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NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors successful New York are investigating Colombian President Gustavo Petro for alleged ties to cause traffickers, according to 2 radical acquainted with the matter.
The radical weren’t authorized to sermon the ongoing enquiry and spoke to The Associated Press connected information of anonymity.
Prosecutors successful Brooklyn and Manhattan successful caller months 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, said 1 of the radical acquainted with the inquiry.
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.
A spokesperson for the Colombian presidency declined to remark connected the ongoing investigations into Petro oregon the consequent ineligible proceedings.
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. Petro maintains that, portion his medication aggressively targets large cartels, it remains focused connected a much lenient, social-based attack for peasant farmers who cultivate coca leaf.
The national enquiry was reported earlier Friday by The New York Times.
Petro came nether scrutiny done the people of cause trafficking investigations by New York authorities that led them to place him arsenic a subject, according to different idiosyncratic acquainted with the matter.
The inquiries into Petro are successful the aboriginal stages and it is not wide whether they volition effect successful charges, this idiosyncratic said, adding the White House has had nary relation successful the investigations.
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 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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Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Goodman reported from Miami. Mike Sisak contributed from New York and Astrid Suárez from Bogotá, Colombia.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.
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