‘I have never spoken to a drug trafficker in my entire life’, said the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, on the social network X, this Friday, 20. The statement appeared after the newspaper The New York Times inform that United States authorities are investigating whether the parliamentarian has any connection with drug trafficking.
Petro republished a newspaper post The Spectatorwhich shows the revelation of the The New York Timesin X, and commented that in Colombia there is not a single research that links drug trafficking to him because he has never spoken to drug traffickers.
“On the contrary, I dedicated ten years of my life, at the risk of my own existence and causing the exile of my family, to denouncing the links between the most powerful drug traffickers and politicians in the Congress of the Republic and in local and national governments, in what I called the era of paramilitary governance”, concluded the executive leader.
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The report Petro comments on shows documents in which he was designated a “priority target” by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), while federal prosecutors in New York investigate his alleged ties to drug traffickers, according to people familiar with the matter and documents seen by Associated Press.
DEA records show that Petro has emerged in multiple investigations dating back to 2022, many based on interviews with confidential informants. The alleged crimes being investigated by the DEA include his possible dealings with the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, a scheme to use his “total peace” plan to benefit prominent drug lords who contributed to his presidential campaign, the report said. AP.
Records also suggest the use of law enforcement agents to smuggle cocaine and fentanyl through Colombian ports.
The “priority target” designation is reserved for suspects the DEA considers to have a “significant impact” on drug trafficking. U.S. federal prosecutors declined to comment, and the DEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AP.
Petro has consistently denied accusations of drug trafficking, especially after Donald Trump labeled him a “drug trafficking leader” and the Treasury Department sanctioned him in late 2025 for alleged links to the trade, without presenting evidence. Petro says that while his government aggressively combats major cartels, it remains focused on a softer, more social approach to small farmers who grow coca leaves.
In this Friday’s publication, he wrote that he told those responsible not to accept donations from bankers or drug traffickers. “The deep and intense investigation into my presidential campaign did not identify a single weight coming from drug trafficking, because that is my orientation and my personal principle as a political leader.”
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He then concluded: “Thus, the processes in the United States will serve to dismantle the accusations of the Colombian extreme right, which is linked to the neck with drug traffickers in Colombia.”
The investigation into Petro is in its early stages and it is unclear whether they will result in charges, according to another person familiar with the matter, adding that the White House had no role in the investigation.
Family members under investigation
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Petro, a former rebel leader, came to power promising to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels and redirect state resources to combat structural poverty.
At one point, he frequently criticized the Trump administration for its support for Israel, for the bombings of drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and compared the repression of immigration promoted by the White House to “Nazi” tactics.
His son, Nicolás Petro, was accused in 2023 of soliciting illegal campaign contributions from a convicted drug lord, with the aim of financing a luxurious lifestyle, including expensive cars and real estate. Nicolás pleaded not guilty, and his father stated that none of the amounts were used in his campaign.
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Colombian authorities have been investigating members of Petro’s family for years for possible criminal acts.
The president’s brother, Juan Fernando Petro, was also implicated in secret negotiations that allegedly took place with arrested drug traffickers to protect them from extradition to the United States in exchange for their disarmament.
USA and Colombia
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As reported by AFPthe friction between the two leaders began when Trump clashed with Gustavo Petro’s left-wing project, in power since 2022, which sought allies in Latin America against Washington.
The United States offensive launched last September against vessels allegedly loaded with drugs, first in the Caribbean and then also in the Pacific, intensified diplomatic tension.
Petro participated in the UN General Assembly and then in a protest on the streets of New York, in which he urged American soldiers to disobey Trump.
Amid a war of declarations between the two leaders, Washington withdrew the visa and applied economic sanctions against Petro and several members of his family. Trump even threatened military action in Colombia after the operation and capture, on January 3, of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, arrested in New York awaiting trial for drug trafficking.
Trump and Petro, however, opened an unexpected avenue of dialogue and agreed to a visit by the Colombian to Washington, which took place in February. Petro’s alleged ties to drug trafficking were publicly debated in Colombia, reported AFP.
At the same time, Petro has defended measures such as the legalization of marijuana by Congress and promoted dialogue with dissident guerrilla groups, accused by Washington of financing themselves through drug trafficking.
