Retired General Eduardo Zapateiro filed a formal complaint with the attorney general’s office on Thursday regarding alleged spying and data profiling by state intelligence during the Gustavo Petro administration.
Espionage Allegations Against the DNI
The legal filing claims that the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DNI) monitored opposition figures, journalists, judicial workers, and military members. Zapateiro said that his own name appears alongside other retired generals, politicians, and public servants in the intelligence records.
According to the denuncia, the Unidad de Información y Análisis Financiero (UIAF) allegedly diverted financial intelligence resources to pull personal, financial, phone, and travel records. “Gravedad reviste la presunta utilización de la Unidad de Información y Análisis Financiero (UIAF), cuyos recursos y capacidades de inteligencia financiera habrían sido desviados de sus finalidades legales para obtener información personal, financiera, telefónica, notarial, migratoria y patrimonial de personas consideradas incómodas para el Gobierno de Gustavo Petro,” the document says.
🚨 El Contralor General, Jorge Laverde, ordenó la revisión prioritaria de cinco contratos de la Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DNI) por más de $20.783 millones, ante denuncias sobre presuntas fallas técnicas, incumplimientos y posibles sobrecostos. 📄 Conoce los detalles en… pic.twitter.com/ubfiIm2w5i
The ex-commander talks about interceptions, tracking, profiling, and the use of reserved information, specifically with the purpose of keeping tabs on politicians, opponents, journalists, judicial officials, and members of the Public Force. General (r) Eduardo Zapateiro Altamiranda stated: “Dentro de las personas presuntamente objeto de estas actividades aparece expresamente mi nombre, Eduardo Enrique Zapateiro Altamiranda, junto con otros generales retirados, dirigentes políticos, periodistas y funcionarios públicos.”
Did You Know? The Contraloría General requested information on 21 audit findings concerning DNI contracts signed during the Petro administration, which included a $580 million biometric system that the entity’s technical staff could neither locate nor operate, according to Caracol Radio.
Contraloría General reviews five DNI contracts for irregularities
Parallel to the espionage complaints, the Contraloría General ordered a priority review of five DNI contracts totaling $20,783 million, as reported by La Silla Vacía. Comptroller General Jorge Laverde targeted procurements that included unmanaged drone systems, computer equipment, and operational headquarters adjustments.
Internal transition documents mentioned by El Tiempo and La Silla Vacía note that systems engineer Carlos Andrés Oyola Tovar held access to sensitive DNI intelligence missions. Investigators indicate Oyola faced an arrest warrant issued on May 7 after allegedly evading a raid on an apartment functioning as a DNI front.
The 26-page transition report, which reportedly reached the hands of its new director, Jorge Andrés Zuluaga, mentions plans to spy on former presidents, the return of Petro’s trusted associates, clandestine houses, drone purchases, and a hacker within the team.
The document notes that a clandestine house used by the DNI as an unregisterd operational headquarters was located just blocks away from the United States Embassy in Bogotá and was vacated after the presidential elections. Dotación para una sede en Funza cost $1.549 million, while the entity contracted SUPREME CONSTRUCCIONES S.A.S.
Requests Made to the Fiscalía
In his formal filing, Zapateiro submitted eight specific requests to the Fiscalía. The former commander asked investigators to preserve DNI evidence related to the profiling and to grant him formal victim status in the resulting judicial proceedings.
Zapateiro’s legal action also asks prosecutors to determine whether the allegedly illicit intelligence data served as the basis for disciplinary and criminal investigations opened against him. “La eventual utilización de información obtenida ilícitamente para construir, alimentar o promover señalamientos contra el suscrito constituiría una circunstancia de extrema gravedad,” Zapateiro said.
Agencies named in the legal complaint and contracts under review
What specific agencies are named in the legal complaint?
The denuncia filed by retired General Eduardo Zapateiro specifically implicates the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DNI) and the Unidad de Información y Análisis Financiero (UIAF) in carrying out unauthorized profiling and surveillance.
Which specific contracts are under review by the Contraloría?
Comptroller General Jorge Laverde ordered the review of five contracts totaling $20,783 million, covering a non-functioning biometric system, drone purchases, computer equipment, and operational headquarters adjustments in Funza, Cundinamarca.
What does the former military commander request from the Fiscalía?
Zapateiro submitted eight specific requests asking investigators to probe the reported facts, preserve evidence of profiling within the DNI, and grant him formal recognition as a victim in the ongoing proceedings.
Related reading