Cartagena, Colombia (CNN) -- A group of Secret
Service agents and officers sent to Colombia ahead of President Barack
Obama were relieved of duty and returned home amid allegations of
misconduct that involved prostitution, according to two U.S. government
sources familiar the investigation.
The 11 Secret Service
members -- both agents and uniformed officers -- were interviewed
Saturday at the agency's Washington headquarters, after which they were
placed on administrative leave, Assistant Director Paul Morrissey said
in a statement.
They are under
investigation after preliminary findings revealed that they brought back
several prostitutes to the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena, sources told CNN
on Saturday.
Also Saturday, the U.S.
military announced that five service members assigned to support the
Secret Service in its assignment have been "confined to quarters" in
Colombia after they violated curfew and "may have been involved in
inappropriate conduct" at the same hotel. The statement, from U.S.
Southern Command, did not offer more details, including whether
prostitution was involved.
The command's leader,
Gen. Douglas Fraser, said he is "disappointed by the entire incident and
that this behavior is not in keeping with the professional standards
expected of members of the United States military," according to the
statement.
The alleged misconduct
overshadowed the start of the sixth Summit of the Americas, where the
president was to focus on trade, energy and regional security.
None of the agents or
officers being investigated was part of the president's personal
protective detail and Obama isn't based at the hotel. But dignitaries
and journalists reporting on the hemispheric meeting were staying there,
a U.S. government official said.
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