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Ex-DEA spy wins ruling in agency suit

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Published: Feb. 24, 2009 at 3:26 PM

MIAMI, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration failed to adequately protect a glamorous female spy when she was captured in Colombia in 1995, a Miami judge says.

The former DEA informant, identified in court documents only as The Princess, is suing the agency for $33 million, alleging its lax supervision of her assignment to infiltrate the highest levels of Colombia's drug cartels left her vulnerable to be kidnapped and held hostage by rebels, The Miami Herald reported.

U.S. District Judge Mary Ellen Coster Williams ruled this month that the DEA did indeed fail to protect The Princess on her Colombian assignment, allowing the suit to proceed to a determination of whether she was damaged and, if so, how much she is owed, unsealed court document revealed.

The Princess testified she led a high-flying, jet-set life, posing as a glamorous art dealer and money launderer, helping the DEA identify dozens of drug traffickers. But she blames the agency for allowing her to be kidnapped by rebels who thought she was merely a rich woman, court documents say.

During her captivity she was forced to eat her book of contacts and was held for months in a windowless room, the Herald said.

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