U.S. Prosecutors Name Gustavo Petro as Drug Probe Target

U.S. federal prosecutors in Brooklyn and Manhattan are investigating Colombian President Gustavo Petro for alleged connections to drug trafficking networks, including Mexico's Sinaloa cartel and Venezuela's Cartel of the Suns. The Drug Enforcement Administration has designated Petro as a "priority target," a label used for suspects whose activities significantly impact the drug trade.

Investigators are probing whether Petro's representatives solicited bribes at La Picota jail to block extraditions to the U.S. and if his "total peace" plan was used to benefit campaign donors. The probe also examines claims that Petro used law enforcement to smuggle cocaine and fentanyl through Colombian ports and laundered presidential funds through the state-run oil company Ecopetrol.

Petro has denied all allegations, stating he has never spoken with a drug trafficker and that the claims originate from the Colombian far right. The Embassy of Colombia in Washington dismissed the reports as lacking any legal or factual basis, and Ecopetrol President Ricardo Roa denied the money laundering claims. These investigations emerge shortly before Colombia's May 31 presidential election.

While the White House has had no role in the current probe, Petro was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in late 2025. President Donald Trump previously revoked Petro's visa, though he described the Colombian leader as "terrific" following a February meeting at the White House.