At least 10 American troops could be implicated in a widening sex scandal involving a US Secret Service team preparing for a presidential visit to Colombia, officials said Tuesday.
Government investigators are probing embarrassing allegations that Secret Service agents and US military service members sent to the Caribbean resort of Cartagena ahead of President Barack Obama's weekend visit consorted with prostitutes.
The Pentagon had initially said five military personnel were involved but the list of military suspects now included five Army special forces members, two members of a Navy explosives ordnance disposal unit, two Marine dog handlers and one Air Force member, a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
All of the troops implicated were enlisted service members and not officers, officials said.
As an Air Force colonel charged with leading a military investigation gathered facts in Cartagena, the total number of suspects remained fluid, officials said.
There were two separate probes underway, a military investigation led by US Southern Command and a separate Secret Service investigation.
About 20 women were brought to the hotel in Colombia where Secret Service agents and military troops are accused of inviting prostitutes back to their rooms, Senator Susan Collins said Tuesday.
Collins, the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said she was briefed by Secret Service director Mark Sullivan late Monday on the events at last weekend's summit.
