The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is moving to provide facial recognition licenses from Manhattan-based technology firm Clearview AI to a specialized unit of the Colombian National Police, according to a procurement notice published on the federal contracting database SAM.gov on June 2, 2026.
The intended end-user is the Directorate of Protection and Special Services, known by its Spanish acronym DIPRO, a division whose organizational structure includes branches focused on protecting children and adolescents, foreign diplomats, and counter-intelligence operations. The licenses would be delivered through the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, and the relevant statement of work — labeled “Clearview for DIPRO units” — appeared on page 56 of the procurement documentation.
Clearview AI’s Expanding International Footprint
Clearview AI has been working to expand its presence in Latin America for several years. A pitch deck that leaked in December 2021 documented plans for a regional launch, with Reston, Virginia-based airport biometrics company Securiport identified at that time as the primary channel partner for Latin American deployment. By mid-2024, TIME magazine reported that the company had provided a facial recognition tool to various law enforcement officials, investigators, and prosecutors in the region on a trial basis.
The company has faced significant regulatory headwinds in other parts of the world. Canada and several European nations have banned Clearview AI’s services, citing data privacy concerns. The firm is nonetheless expanding its footprint in markets where regulatory barriers are lower.
Clearview AI is currently led by CEO Amos Kyler, who rose through the company’s ranks from head of engineering to chief technology officer before assuming the top executive role. Co-founder Hoan Ton-That departed in early 2025, with Hal Lambert and Richard Schwartz initially reported as joint co-CEOs before Kyler publicly claimed the role by November 2025.
INL’s Broader Colombia and Mexico Contracting Activity
The facial recognition procurement is one of several recent contracting actions by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The bureau recently awarded a $230,000 contract for night-vision goggles to Mexico’s Navy Special Forces Unit, known as UNOPES. Separately, INL is nearing the end of an eight-year contract that has provided Colombian National Police with aviation services — a contract that obligated more than $62 million to defense and government services firm Amentum Services.
Amentum hired Dave Marlowe, a former CIA operations chief, in late 2023 as a customer liaison. The bureau also has historical ties to Colombia’s most significant narcotics-related law enforcement chapters: Richard A. Clarke, a former U.S. counterterrorism adviser who has served as a Clearview AI advisor, participated in an October 1995 press conference on Cali Cartel operations alongside then-INL director Ambassador Robert S. Gelbard.
INL itself traces its institutional history to the Bureau of International Narcotics Matters, established by the State Department in 1978. The office expanded and was renamed in 1995 as narcotics enforcement priorities escalated during the height of the Cali Cartel. A predecessor body, the Cabinet Committee on International Narcotics Control, had in the 1970s chartered CIA-affiliated airline Evergreen International as part of efforts to eradicate opium production in Mexico.
On the enforcement front, January saw a high-profile capture when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken into U.S. custody in a DEA and Delta Force operation. INL also administers a narcotics reward program that posts bounties on high-value foreign targets.
For context on other recent federal law enforcement matters touching Idaho, a federal judge in Idaho Falls is facing criminal charges following an incident in a parking lot, and authorities have been conducting an ongoing search of the Snake River near Idaho Falls tied to a missing Louisiana man.
What Comes Next
The SAM.gov Notice of Intent publication opens a window for potential vendors to respond before any formal contract is awarded. The procurement remains in process, and no award announcement had been made as of the notice date. DIPRO’s access to Clearview AI’s facial recognition database — which the company has built by scraping publicly available images from the internet — would represent a significant expansion of the tool’s use in South American law enforcement operations. Whether Congress or other oversight bodies will scrutinize the transaction remains to be seen, particularly given the restrictions other Western nations have imposed on the technology. Follow statewide developments in Idaho and beyond at Idaho News.