{"id":1933,"date":"2026-03-20T20:24:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T20:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/?p=1933"},"modified":"2026-03-20T20:24:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T20:24:36","slug":"the-president-of-colombia-has-been-labeled-a-priority-target-for-his-alleged-drug-ties-by-the-dea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/?p=1933","title":{"rendered":"The president of Colombia has been labeled a “priority target” for his alleged drug ties by the DEA"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Colombian President\u00a0Gustavo Petro\u00a0has been designated a \u201cpriority target\u201d by the\u00a0U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration\u00a0as federal prosecutors in New York probe his alleged ties to drug traffickers, according to people familiar with the matter and records seen by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

DEA records show Petro has surfaced in multiple investigations dating to 2022, many based on interviews with confidential informants. The alleged crimes the DEA has investigated include his possible dealings with\u00a0Mexico\u2019s Sinaloa cartel, a scheme to leverage\u00a0his \u201ctotal peace\u201d plan\u00a0to benefit prominent traffickers who contributed to his presidential campaign. The records also suggest the use of law enforcement to smuggle cocaine and fentanyl through Colombian ports.<\/p>\n

The \u201cpriority target\u201d label is reserved for suspects DEA deems to have a \u201csignificant impact\u201d on the drug trade.<\/p>\n

An inquiry in early stages<\/p>\n

In recent months, prosecutors in Brooklyn and Manhattan have been questioning drug traffickers about their ties to Petro and specifically about allegations the Colombian president\u2019s representatives solicited bribes to block their extradition to the United States, according to a person with knowledge of the inquiry who wasn\u2019t authorized to discuss the ongoing inquiry and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

The person said it wasn\u2019t clear whether federal prosecutors have implicated Petro in any crime.<\/p>\n

The investigation is focusing at least in part on allegations that representatives of Petro solicited bribes from drug traffickers at the Colombian jail La Picota in exchange for a promise that they not be extradited to the U.S., one of the people said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Colombian presidency declined to comment on the ongoing investigations into Petro or the subsequent legal proceedings.<\/p>\n

Petro has consistently denied allegations of drug trafficking, particularly after Trump labeled him an \u201cillegal drug leader\u201d and the Treasury Department\u00a0sanctioned him in late 2025\u00a0for alleged ties to the trade without offering evidence. Petro maintains that, while his administration aggressively targets major cartels, it remains focused on a more lenient, social-based approach for peasant farmers who cultivate\u00a0coca leaf.<\/p>\n

The federal inquiry was reported earlier Friday by The New York Times.<\/p>\n

Petro came under scrutiny through the course of drug trafficking investigations by New York authorities that led them to identify him as a subject, according to another person familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

The inquiries into Petro are in the early stages, and it is not clear whether they will result in charges, this person said, adding the White House has had no role in the investigations.<\/p>\n

Family members under scrutiny<\/p>\n

Petro, a former rebel leader, soared into office promising to reduce the country\u2019s dependence on fossil fuels and reallocate state resources to addressing entrenched poverty.<\/p>\n

A leftist politician known for winding sometimes incoherent speeches, he has regularly criticized the Trump administration over its support for Israel, bombing of\u00a0drug boats in the Caribbean\u00a0and likened the White House migration crackdown to \u201cNazi\u201d tactics.<\/p>\n

After one such outburst, at a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, Trump retaliated by\u00a0revoking Petro\u2019s U.S. visa. He also briefly slapped high tariffs on Colombia over Petro\u2019s refusal to accept\u00a0deportation flights from the United States.<\/p>\n

But more recently the two have shown signs of getting along. After a meeting at the White House in February,\u00a0Trump described Petro as \u201cterrific.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colombian authorities have for years been investigating members of Petro\u2019s family for possible criminal acts.<\/p>\n

His son, Nicol\u00e1s Petro,\u00a0was charged in 2023 with soliciting illegal campaign contributions\u00a0from a convicted drug trafficker to fund a lavish lifestyle of expensive cars and homes. The younger Petro has pleaded not guilty and his father has said none of the money was used to fund his campaign.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s brother, Juan Fernando Petro, has also been implicated in secret negotiations that allegedly took place with imprisoned drug traffickers to shield them from extradition to the U.S. in exchange for their disarmament.<\/p>\n

Politics and cocaine<\/p>\n

Politics in Colombia have long been tainted by cocaine, of which it is the world\u2019s largest supplier. In the 1980s,\u00a0drug lord Pablo Escobar\u00a0was elected to the country\u2019s Congress with the support of one of Colombia\u2019s most traditional parties. A decade later, his rivals from the Cali cartel flooded the presidential campaign of Ernesto Samper with illegal donations.<\/p>\n

The now defunct urban guerrilla group Petro belonged to, the 19th of April Movement, has long been suspected of taking money from Escobar\u2019s Medellin cartels as part of its deadly siege of the Supreme Court in 1985. Petro did not participate in the attack, which left several guerrillas and around half the high court\u2019s magistrates dead. Leaders of the group have always denied any links to the cartel.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Goodman reported from Miami. Mike Sisak contributed from New York and Astrid Su\u00e1rez from Bogot\u00e1, Colombia.<\/p>\n

#president #Colombia #labeled #priority #target #alleged #drug #ties #DEA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colombian President\u00a0Gustavo Petro\u00a0has been designated a \u201cpriority target\u201d by the\u00a0U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration\u00a0as federal prosecutors…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[245],"tags":[714,4568,4569,764,758,4325,1601,4570,336,4028],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}