Soldiers Threatened to Kill Before Orgy
So, what do you think would happen if you present someone who makes $175 a month with somewhere in the neighborhood of $60,000. That's right; they'd blow it on booze, hookers, and...sunglasses?
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Elite Colombian troops eager to pocket $14 million in rebel cash threatened to kill reluctant comrades before plunging into an orgy of prostitutes, whiskey and luxury goods, military sources said on Wednesday.
Feverish negotiations took place after 147 soldiers stumbled on the cash buried in plastic containers in a jungle mine field on Good Friday. Sergeants pressured officers to divide the booty instead of reporting it, senior sources said.Conspirators threatened to kill hesitant soldiers if they ever opened their mouths to report what has become a huge embarrassment for Colombia's U.S.-backed armed forces, which admitted the scandal on Monday night.
"They had to take a share under threat," said Col. Ramiro Gaitan, commander of the 6th Mobile Brigade, to which the renegade soldiers belonged. Most are on the run. About 40 have been rounded up.
Prostitutes in the southern Colombian city of Popayan told local media they got several times the going rate for their services as troops ran riot on whiskey and women.
Colombian soldiers earn an average $175 a month.
"They gave the enlisted men $60,000 each," said Gaitan, adding that officers and noncommissioned officers got more. "They lined up the platoons and dished it out."
Some bought expensive sunglasses and clothes and went on trips to restaurants and brothels, swilling hard liquor and showering dollar bills on prostitutes.
Yep; exactly what I would have done....
