More than 100 elite Colombian troops were on the run Tuesday after stealing at least $14 million from a Marxist rebel war chest. Dozens of officers and men abruptly resigned or just disappeared after the counter-guerrilla force stumbled upon a huge stash of bank notes buried in a jungle minefield in southern Caqueta province last month, embarrassed officials said. A joint army and police manhunt was targeting the hometowns of the fugitives, who never reported finding what appeared to be massive proceeds from kidnapping and cocaine. “These people didn’t commit embezzlement, but the crime of treason, betraying their army, betraying the faith of Colombians, betraying the honor of Colombia,” an angry Interior Minister Fernando Londono told local radio. Three officers, 16 noncommissioned officers and 21 enlisted men have been arrested. Another two soldiers surrendered to authorities Tuesday and 105 are on the lam, the army said. Armed forces commander Gen. Carlos Alberto Ospina came clean on the scandal late Monday, explaining what national newspaper El Tiempo dubbed: “The robbery of the century.” Full Story
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