Twelve American Secret Service agents assigned to protect
President Obama at an international summit in Colombia have been sent home
after being accused of taking prostitutes back to their hotel.
The incident is alleged to have taken place at the
£300-a-night Hotel Caribe in Cartagena on the coast of the South American
country last week.
The Secret Service was alerted after one of the
prostitutes complained to police that she had not been paid by one of the
agents.world leaders at a conference on trade and economic policy.
The agents had arrived in Colombia earlier in the week to
check security.
An employee at the Hotel Caribe claimed that the men had
been drinking heavily before the alleged incident.
The Secret Service did not reveal whether the disgraced
agents have been suspended.
The episode came to light after Secret Service insiders
leaked details of the scandal to Washington investigative reporter Ron Kessler.
Mr Kessler said: 'Prostitution is legal in Colombia and
so the woman filed a complaint with the police. They complained to the U.S.
State Department who complained to the Secret Service, who informed the White
House and the 12 were removed and replaced.Barack Obama arrives to Rafael Nunez airport in
Cartagena, Colombia, today where 12 of his secret service agents were sent home
from for misconduct with prostitutes
'The Secret Service had hoped to keep it quiet, but I was
contacted by sources who are concerned that this is part of a pattern of rules
not being adhered to or enforced.'
Several of the agents are married, according to Mr
Kessler, a former reporter for The Washington Post and author of the book In
The President's Secret Service: Behind The Scenes With Agents In The Line Of
Fire.
'Any breach like this can open the door to an
assassination attempt on the President,' he said. 'The fact that some of the
agents are married could make them subject to blackmail by terrorists who need
access to a secure area.'
Concerns surrounding the President's security during the
visit to Colombia mounted when two bombs exploded in Cartagena and two more in
the capital Bogota on the day he arrived. No casualties or injuries were
reported.
Greeting: Mr Obama shakes hands with Colombia's president
Juan Manuel Santos at the start of the summit
A spokesman for the Secret Service, Edwin Donovan,
refused to disclose details of the charges against the agents, but the Federal
Law Enforcement Officers Association said that at least one member of the
President's security detail had been accused of involvement in the scandal.
Mr Donovan said the allegations would be investigated by
the agency's internal affairs unit.
Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement
Officers Association, described the charges as 'very serious', adding that the
agency 'needs to properly investigate and fairly ascertain the merits of the
allegations'.
Recruitment standards for the agency are 'tough on
paper', a Washington insider told The Mail on Sunday.
'Agents must be between 21 and 37 years old, but a few
particularly good veterans are allowed to stay on the detail into their
mid-40s,' he said. 'The Secret Service prefers members of the presidential
detail to be married because that is believed to make them “quieter” and more
understanding of the President's domestic needs.'
At least 20 agents surround the President whenever he
leaves the White House and the expert said that twice that number are believed
to have been dispatched to Colombia for advance arrangements.
As expert marksmen, their suits are tailored to hide SIG
Sauer P229 handguns and they also are equipped with Remington 870 shotguns as
well as Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns.
Their starting pay is about £60,000 a year, but with
overtime and special allowances they can make twice that amount.
'Their training includes a lecture on the John F Kennedy
assassination and the dangers of drinking before any job,' said the insider.
A senior Latin American diplomat said he was informed by
his nation's delegation at the Colombian summit that several agents 'went as a
group looking for sex'.
He said that after one of the women had complained, 'the
police confronted the secret agents and got nowhere'.
He added: 'The matter was then referred to Colombian
foreign ministry officials who in turn spoke with their US Department of State
counterparts. They then confronted the Secret Service and demanded the group of
agents involved leave before President Obama arrived'.