Washington - The United States has 300 personnel stationed in Colombia, of which 200 are soldiers and about 100 are anti-narcotics and Central Intelligence Agency agents, Newsweek reports in its current issue.
The US presence was highlighted when a US RC-7 plane crashed last week with five US soldiers aboard. The plane was supposed to be conducting an anti-narcotics patrol but the plane was packed with sophisticated intelligence equipment.
"This had to do with surveillance," Newsweek quotes one source familiar with the flight's mission as saying. "We're not supposed to be monitoring guerrillas, but that's what they were doing," he said.