Fifteen police officers died Tuesday when the Black Hawk helicopter they were traveling in crashed in the volatile northwest part of Colombia, the country's police agency said, according to AP. The police said in a statement that two other uniformed personnel were in critical condition and being treated for injuries. Investigators were rushing to the scene to investigate what led to the crash in a densely jungled area near the Gulf of Uraba region. The police said that the chopper was part of a mission to locate Dairo Otoniel Usaga, leader of the country's most-violent drug-smuggling gang. Since February, authorities with the support of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have intensified their manhunt for Otoniel, for whose capture the United States has offered a $5 million reward. The crash site is a major haven for the Usaga clan as well as leftist rebels, but police said that preliminary data suggest that a mechanical failure is to blame. The incident follows the death of 11 air force personnel whose airplane crashed last week near the Caribbean coast.
