DEA names Colombian president 'priority target' as US prosecutors probe
ties to drug traffickers
[March 21, 2026]
By JIM MUSTIAN, JOSHUA GOODMAN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
NEW YORK (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro has been designated a
“priority target” by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as 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.
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
Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and a scheme to leverage his “total peace” plan
to 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.
The “priority target” label is reserved for suspects DEA deems to have a
“significant impact” on the drug trade. It's unclear when the DEA gave
Petro that designation.
Petro denied all ties to drug traffickers and maintained he never
accepted their funds during his campaign. Writing on X Friday, he argued
that U.S. legal proceedings would ultimately dismantle accusations from
the Colombian far right, a group he claims is actually the one involved
with traffickers.
Colombia’s Embassy in Washington downplayed what it called “unverified”
and anonymous reports of preliminary law enforcement investigations
against Petro.
“The reported insinuations have no legal or factual basis,” the embassy
said in a statement.
The inquiry
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’s representatives solicited
bribes to block their extradition to the United States, according to one
of the people who weren't authorized to discuss the ongoing inquiry and
spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The person said it wasn’t clear whether federal prosecutors have
implicated Petro in any crime.
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.
Petro has consistently denied allegations of drug trafficking,
particularly after Trump labeled him an “illegal drug leader” and the
Treasury Department sanctioned him in late 2025 for alleged ties to the
trade without offering evidence.
U.S. federal prosecutors declined to comment. The DEA did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
The federal inquiry was reported earlier Friday by The New York Times.
The inquiries into Petro are in the early stages, and it is not clear
whether they will result in charges, according to another person
familiar with the matter, adding the White House has had no role in the
investigations.
The DEA records reviewed by the AP are based in part on tips from
confidential sources that point to Petro’s possible involvement with a
range of criminal groups that have dominated the South American drug
trade for years. Those include Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel as well as the
Cartel de los soles, or Cartel of the Suns, a term used to describe a
loose network of corrupt, high-ranking military officers in neighboring
Venezuela.
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Colombia's President Gustavo Petro shows the ballots before voting
in legislative elections in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, March 8, 2026.
(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
The records also cite a 2024 interview with an unnamed source who
claimed Petro is utilizing former campaign aides and officials from
state-run oil company Ecopetrol to launder presidential funds into
foreign countries for Petro’s use upon completion of his presidency.
Ecopetrol President Ricardo Roa vehemently denied the allegations in
a statement to AP, saying they “lacked all reality or logic.”
Family members under scrutiny
Petro, a former rebel leader, soared into office promising to reduce
the country’s dependence on fossil fuels and reallocate state
resources to addressing entrenched poverty.
A leftist politician known for winding sometimes incoherent
speeches, he has regularly criticized the Trump administration over
its support for Israel, bombing of drug boats in the Caribbean and
likened the White House migration crackdown to “Nazi” tactics.
After one such outburst, at a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside
the United Nations headquarters in New York, Trump retaliated by
revoking Petro’s U.S. visa. He also briefly slapped high tariffs on
Colombia over Petro’s refusal to accept deportation flights from the
United States.
But more recently the two have shown signs of getting along. After a
meeting at the White House in February, Trump described Petro as
“terrific.”
Colombian authorities have for years been investigating members of
Petro’s family for possible criminal acts.
His son, Nicolás Petro, was charged in 2023 with soliciting illegal
campaign contributions from 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.
The president’s 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.
Politics and cocaine
Politics in Colombia have long been tainted by cocaine, of which it
is the world’s largest supplier. In the 1980s, drug lord Pablo
Escobar was elected to the country’s Congress with the support of
one of Colombia’s most traditional parties. A decade later, his
rivals from the Cali cartel flooded the presidential campaign of
Ernesto Samper with illegal donations.
The now defunct urban guerrilla group Petro belonged to, the 19th of
April Movement, has long been suspected of taking money from
Escobar’s 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’s
magistrates dead. Leaders of the group have always denied any links
to the cartel.
___
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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