Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad

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Logo of Colombia`s Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS)

Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) or Administrative Department of Security is the Security Service of Colombia.

1 Activities
2 Scandals
3 External links
4 See also

[edit] Activities

Its role is very complex, as it is responsible for providing security to state institutions and personalities, providing judiciary police services and serving as a counterinteligence service to both external and internal threats. DAS in addition has the purposes of immigration control encluding issuing visas.

Article 38 of Decree 218 from 2000 states that all employees of DAS have the function of intelligence agents. DAS works with the DEA, an American agency against drugs. DAS currently is working against drug industry-related traffickers, guerillas and paramilitaries in Colombia.

[edit] Scandals

Members of DAS have been previously accused of interacting with leftwing guerrillas, rightwing paramilitary, drug dealears and smugglers, among others.

In October 2005, the content of a tape arguably containing a conversation between Special Intelligence Group Director Enrique Ariza and other DAS members, apparently discussing plans to create an intelligence office with financing from illegal paramilitary groups, was published in the Colombian press. Unspecified sources accused Vice-Director José Miguel Narváez of allegedly leaking this tape as part of a setup in order to discredit DAS Director Jorge Noguera. Director Noguera resigned and Narváez was removed from command. [1]

Subsequently, Andrés Peñate was selected as the new DAS Director, together with the announcement of polygraph tests for DAS personnel and the creation of a commission tasked with proposing reforms and a reestructuring of the DAS. [2]

Between January and March 2006, new allegations came to light about DAS-paramilitary relations and former Director Noguera's potential involvement. Noguera, who had been placed in charge of the Colombian consulate in Milan, Italy in the meanwhile, resigned from this new post. I november 2006 Noguera and several high level DAS officials have been called to answer to the judiciary.