A DEA agent was killed in Colombia in what US officials say was a robbery attempt turned violent.
US Ambassador Michael McKinley announced Friday the death of Special Agent James “Terry” Watson , who had been assigned to a DEA office in Cartagena, Colombia. He was on a temporary assignment in Bogota when he was robbed and stabbed four times, Colombian authorities said.
McKinley said the DEA agent was supposed to meet up with some friends at a Bogota restaurant when he got into a taxi. After about three blocks, the taxi was intercepted by another cab. Two men then exited the second car and tried to pull the DEA agent from his vehicle, stabbing him in the chest three times and in the leg once.
Watson was left bleeding in the street until he was found a short time later by a police patrol. By the time they took him to a hospital several blocks away the agent had already died.
Watson, who was 43, had been stationed in Colombia for about 18 month.
DEA agents have been particularly active in fighting drug cartels in Colombia and across South America. Late last year American DEA agents worked with Colombian and Argentinian officials to capture Henry de Jesus Lopez, considered the most notorious drug lord in Colombia.
He was arrested in October in a suburb of Bueons Aires after a months-long chase led by Colombian police. The drug lord , known as Mi Sangre or My Blood, is the leader of the powerful Urabenos gang.
Police believe Lopez is responsible for hundreds of deaths and considered him extremely dangerous.
Police in Colombia are looking for security cameras in the area to find clues in the killing of the DEA agent, and police have offered a reward of 50 million pesos ($28,500) for information that leads to an arrest.
