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Latin America
Troops on wild orgy after finding rebels’ $14m
2003-05-23
Elite Colombian troops eager to pocket $US14 million in rebel cash threatened to kill reluctant comrades before plunging into an orgy involving prostitutes, whisky and luxury goods.
Party Time!
147 soldiers stumbled on the cash buried in plastic containers in a jungle minefield on Good Friday. Sergeants pressured officers to divide the booty instead of reporting it. Conspirators threatened to kill hesitant comrades if they ever opened their mouths. "They had to take a share under threat," said Colonel Ramiro Gaitan, commander of the crack 6th Mobile Brigade, to which the renegades belonged. Most are on the run, but about 40 have been rounded up.

Prostitutes in the southern city of Popayan told how they got several times the going rate for their services as troops, who earn an average $US175 a month, ran riot. "They gave the enlisted men $60,000 each," Colonel Gaitan said, adding that officers and non-commissioned officers got more. "They lined up the platoons and dished it out." Some bought expensive sunglasses and clothes and went on trips to restaurants and brothels, drinking and showering prostitutes with dollar bills. "We began to hear rumours of soldiers present in houses of ill repute, in discotheques," Colonel Gaitan said.
Damn! That's never happened before, has it? Why, back in my day... Never mind.
Authorities believe the money was hidden by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the Spanish initials FARC. The soldiers' theft is embarrassing for President Alvaro Uribe, a dour lawyer who uses deeply moral language in his requests for more US military aid. But Jorge Quinones, a lawyer acting for several of the soldiers, told Caracol television: "Hey, there was no robbery. They didn't take money from anyone. They just found it."
Posted by:Paul Moloney

#3  The Captain of the company was later heard to explain:
"Mas tequila! Y putas por mis hombres!"
Posted by: mojo   2003-05-23 10:46:42  

#2  Anyone expecting fidelity in Colombia has been using the whacky white powder. On a good day the government might control 55% of its territory. This is a mess that only be solved be decoupling the linkage between the roving private armies and the cocaine money.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono   2003-05-23 06:48:56  

#1  Free Money!!! Wooo-hoooo!!! Jackpot!

Uggghh. These guys are our allies against Marxist Terrorists. No wonder we never get anywhere in that area of the world. At least the money is not going to finance bombs, firearms, and know-how exchanges with other international terror organizations. Except that a good chunk of it that went to drugs and prostitutes will eventually wind up back in the terrorists' hands. Ugghhhh.
Posted by: Tokyo Taro   2003-05-23 02:56:46  

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