Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Drug war agent loses secrets on the bus

The British Serious Organized Crime Agency (heralded as Britain's FBI) confirmed that, in 2006, one of its agents lost a computer memory stick containing a list of undercover agents, informants, and details of more than five years of intelligence work. The memory stick was lost when the agent, who traveled to Colombia to work with British intelligence agencies on anti-drug trade operations, left her handbag on a transit bus at the Bogata airport. Fearing the information could fall into the worng hands, intelligence agencies halted operations and relocated dozens of agents and informants. The cost of the aborted operations was £100m.

See, "Bumbling agent lost ‘crown jewels’ of drugs war," Sunday Times, April 26, 2009, at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6169946.ece; "MI6 agent leaves secret details of the war against drugs on bus," Mirror, April 27, 2009, at http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/04/27/mi6-agent-leaves-secret-details-of-the-war-against-drugs-on-bus-115875-21311667/

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