“Ever since it was known that DAS would close down, lots of people started doing business and looking for ways to make a few bucks. Others started pilfering information as a kind of insurance, in case one day they would face a criminal investigation or disciplinary hearing.”-A former unnamed DAS detective

In retaliation for the shutting down of Columbia’s Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (state intelligence agency), it appears that employees sold off secret documents to the highest bidders.

According to the Colombian magazine La Semana, over the past two years tens of thousands of classified documents have been sold to militias, foreign governments and drug traffickers.

The scandal came just days after the former head of DAS, Jorge Noguera, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for colluding with U.S. backed right wing  paramilitary death squads.