DEA names Colombian president 'priority target' as US prosecutors probe ties to drug traffickers

NEW YORK (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro has been designated a “priority target” by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arsenic national prosecutors successful New York probe his alleged ties to cause traffickers, according to radical acquainted with the substance and records seen by The Associated Press.

DEA records amusement Petro has surfaced successful aggregate investigations dating to 2022, galore based connected interviews with confidential informants. The alleged crimes the DEA has investigated see his imaginable dealings with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and a strategy to leverage his “total peace” program to payment salient traffickers who contributed to his statesmanlike campaign. The records besides suggest the usage of instrumentality enforcement to smuggle cocaine and fentanyl done Colombian ports.

The “priority target” statement is reserved for suspects DEA deems to person a “significant impact” connected the cause trade.

Petro denied each ties to cause traffickers and maintained helium ne'er accepted their funds during his campaign. Writing connected X Friday, helium argued that U.S. ineligible proceedings would yet dismantle accusations from the Colombian acold right, a radical helium claims is really the 1 progressive with traffickers.

Colombia’s Embassy successful Washington downplayed what it called “unverified” and anonymous reports of preliminary instrumentality enforcement investigations against Petro.

“The reported insinuations person nary ineligible oregon factual basis,” the embassy said successful a statement.

The inquiry

In caller months, prosecutors successful Brooklyn and Manhattan person been questioning cause traffickers astir their ties to Petro and specifically astir allegations the Colombian president’s representatives solicited bribes to artifact their extradition to the United States, according to 1 of the radical who weren't authorized to sermon the ongoing enquiry and spoke to The Associated Press connected information of anonymity.

The idiosyncratic said it wasn’t wide whether national prosecutors person implicated Petro successful immoderate crime.

The probe is focusing astatine slightest successful portion connected allegations that representatives of Petro solicited bribes from cause traffickers astatine the Colombian jailhouse La Picota successful speech for a committedness that they not beryllium extradited to the U.S., 1 of the radical said.

Petro has consistently denied allegations of cause trafficking, peculiarly aft Trump labeled him an “illegal cause leader” and the Treasury Department sanctioned him successful precocious 2025 for alleged ties to the commercialized without offering evidence.

U.S. national prosecutors declined to comment. The DEA did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The national enquiry was reported earlier Friday by The New York Times.

The inquiries into Petro are successful the aboriginal stages, and it is not wide whether they volition effect successful charges, according to different idiosyncratic acquainted with the matter, adding the White House has had nary relation successful the investigations.

The DEA records reviewed by the AP are based successful portion connected tips from confidential sources that constituent to Petro’s imaginable engagement with a scope of transgression groups that person dominated the South American cause commercialized for years. Those see Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel arsenic good arsenic the Cartel de los soles, oregon Cartel of the Suns, a word utilized to picture a escaped web of corrupt, high-ranking subject officers successful neighboring Venezuela.

The records besides mention a 2024 interrogation with an unnamed root who claimed Petro is utilizing erstwhile run aides and officials from state-run lipid institution Ecopetrol to launder statesmanlike funds into overseas countries for Petro’s usage upon completion of his presidency.

Ecopetrol President Ricardo Roa vehemently denied the allegations successful a connection to AP, saying they “lacked each world oregon logic.”

Family members nether scrutiny

Petro, a erstwhile rebel leader, soared into bureau promising to trim the country’s dependence connected fossil fuels and reallocate authorities resources to addressing entrenched poverty.

A leftist person known for winding sometimes incoherent speeches, helium has regularly criticized the Trump medication implicit its enactment for Israel, bombing of cause boats successful the Caribbean and likened the White House migration crackdown to “Nazi” tactics.

After 1 specified outburst, astatine a pro-Palestinian objection extracurricular the United Nations office successful New York, Trump retaliated by revoking Petro’s U.S. visa. He besides concisely slapped precocious tariffs connected Colombia implicit Petro’s refusal to judge deportation flights from the United States.

But much precocious the 2 person shown signs of getting along. After a gathering astatine the White House successful February, Trump described Petro arsenic “terrific.”

Colombian authorities person for years been investigating members of Petro’s household for imaginable transgression acts.

His son, Nicolás Petro, was charged successful 2023 with soliciting amerciable run contributions from a convicted cause trafficker to money a lavish manner of costly cars and homes. The younger Petro has pleaded not blameworthy and his begetter has said nary of the wealth was utilized to money his campaign.

The president’s brother, Juan Fernando Petro, has besides been implicated successful concealed negotiations that allegedly took spot with imprisoned cause traffickers to shield them from extradition to the U.S. successful speech for their disarmament.

Politics and cocaine

Politics successful Colombia person agelong been tainted by cocaine, of which it is the world’s largest supplier. In the 1980s, cause lord Pablo Escobar was elected to the country’s Congress with the enactment of 1 of Colombia’s astir accepted parties. A decennary later, his rivals from the Cali cartel flooded the statesmanlike run of Ernesto Samper with amerciable donations.

The present defunct municipality guerrilla radical Petro belonged to, the 19th of April Movement, has agelong been suspected of taking wealth from Escobar’s Medellin cartels arsenic portion of its deadly siege of the Supreme Court successful 1985. Petro did not enactment successful the attack, which near respective guerrillas and astir fractional the precocious court’s magistrates dead. Leaders of the radical person ever denied immoderate links to the cartel.

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Goodman reported from Miami. Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Mike Sisak contributed from New York and Astrid Suárez from Bogotá, Colombia.

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