U.S. Prosecutors Investigate Colombia's President, a Onetime Trump Foe [View all]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/nyregion/colombia-president-petro-investigation-drugs.html

U.S. Prosecutors Investigate Colombia’s President, a Onetime Trump Foe
The Justice Department is examining whether President Gustavo Petro of Colombia has ties to drug traffickers.
By Nicole Hong, Jonah E. Bromwich, William K. Rashbaum and Annie Correal
March 20, 2026, 10:06 a.m. ET

President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, who has had a volatile relationship with President Trump, is under criminal investigation by at least two U.S. federal prosecutors’ offices, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

The investigations, which have not been previously reported, were being conducted by the U.S. attorney’s offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and they have involved prosecutors who focus on international narcotics trafficking as well as agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations, the people said.

The inquiries have been exploring, among other things, Mr. Petro’s possible meetings with drug traffickers and whether his presidential campaign solicited donations from traffickers, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss active investigations.

The investigations, which are separate, are in their early stages, and it is unclear if any of them will result in criminal charges.

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COMING SOON: Deposed Colombian leader Petro arrives at NYC Metropolitan Detention Center