A scandal surrounding the allegedly suspicious purchase of forty water tank trucks in Colombia has further shaken the country.
The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, was said to have been involved in the sale of 40, later 80, water tank trucks to deliver water to the region of La Guajira, a region noted for its desert landscape and the fact it borders the Caribbean and Venezuela in Northern Colombia.
The trucks ran a total of $46.8 billion, in stark contrast to the retail value, which stands at around $664 million.
UNGRD, the Natural Unit for Disaster Risk Management, purchased the trucks from a company called Impoamericana Roger SAS based out of Cucuta, owned by 26-year-old Roger Alexander Pastas Fuertes.
Elmer Francisco Celis Ramírez, who used to own the company until 2019, was murdered in September 2023 in Cucuta.
Suspicions and accusations have been lobbied against President Petro’s government, UNGRD, and Impoamericana Roger SAS regarding questions regarding the financial history of Pastas Fuertes, as well as details of the privately held truck deal, quality of the trucks, lack of crew and supplies, reasons as to why the trucks were sold at such a high price, and other things inconsistent with publicly available records.
UNGRD CEO Olmedo López has resigned due to allegations of corruption.
