Colombia Probes Alcocer Flights Over US$2.5M Claim
POLITICS · COLOMBIA
Key Facts
- —The country Colombia is Washington’s main security partner in South America and, according to the US Treasury, the world’s top cocaine producer. A conservative government replaced Gustavo Petro’s leftist administration in August.
- —Why it matters Former first lady Verónica Alcocer and Petro have been under US Treasury sanctions since Friday 24 October 2025 over alleged drug links. New claims against her reach US desks too.
- —Why now On Saturday 10 October, Semana magazine published an interview in which Eva Ferrer, a former Petro adviser, called Alcocer the head of a criminal network.
- —What happened The same day, President Abelardo De La Espriella ordered an Air Force inquiry. Ferrer claims official aircraft flew Alcocer to Venezuela, and that she brought back US$2.5 million in January 2023.
- —What it means for you These are allegations, not charges. No documents or photos have been published, and nobody named has been charged over them.
- —Still open Whether prosecutors open a case, whether Ferrer produces the photos she described, and how Alcocer and Petro answer. Neither had responded publicly by Saturday evening, Caracol Radio reported.
Colombia’s president has ordered the Air Force to investigate claims that former first lady Verónica Alcocer flew secretly to Venezuela on official aircraft. The order came on Saturday 10 October. Hours earlier, a former government adviser accused her of running a network that moved cash, drugs and weapons.
The story matters beyond Bogotá because Washington already treats Alcocer as a sanctions target. The US Treasury blocked her assets in October 2025, together with her then husband, President Gustavo Petro. President Abelardo De La Espriella has now asked US authorities to look at the new claims as well.
None of it has been proven. The accuser has shown no documents in public, and one prominent journalist has questioned her motives. Alcocer and Petro are entitled to the presumption of innocence.
What Eva Ferrer Alleged
Eva Ferrer is a Spanish political strategist. She worked on the communications team of Petro’s 2022 campaign and later served as a presidential adviser, according to El Espectador. She was also a personal adviser to Alcocer.
Ferrer gave a long interview to journalist Vicky Dávila of Semana, a Bogotá news magazine. She described Alcocer as the hidden head of a group that used presidential power for profit. Asked whether Alcocer led a mafia, she replied, “As of today, I say yes.”
Her most specific claim concerns a trip to Venezuela in January 2023. Ferrer said Manel Grau, a Catalan businessman close to Alcocer, told her the former first lady brought back US$2.5 million. Part of the money, she said, was meant for a campaign by Mario Fernández Alcocer, a politician and cousin of Alcocer.
Ferrer went further, but in conditional terms. “It seems there are photos of Verónica getting off the plane with grey suitcases that had drugs inside,” she told Semana. She did not show those photos, Infobae noted.
Asked whether the trips used state aircraft, Ferrer said they flew on “the presidential one or the first lady’s one.” She also linked people around Alcocer to arms dealing, named Italian businessmen, and accused her circle of selling jobs in several state bodies, including the oil company Ecopetrol, El Colombiano reported.
Ferrer said she spoke out because she fears for her safety. She told Semana that a caller once asked whether she wanted to be shot. She said she has been in hiding for two months.
How the Government Responded
De La Espriella, a conservative lawyer who succeeded Petro in August, reacted within hours. He said he had asked the commander of the Air Force for an “exhaustive investigation” of the events Semana described.
The Air Force’s Inspector General and counter-intelligence units will examine current and former crews of CATAM, Semana reported. CATAM is the military air transport command that flies official aircraft. Members found to be involved would be removed from service and must answer to the courts, the president said.
He also asked the Attorney General’s Office, the Supreme Court and the Procuraduría, the public-conduct watchdog, to act within their powers. He made the same request of “the authorities of the United States.” The Supreme Court is involved because it handles cases against sitting members of Congress.
Opposition to Petro’s camp moved fast. Senator Christian Garcés belongs to the Centro Democrático, the conservative party founded by former president Álvaro Uribe. He urged Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo to open an inquiry on her own initiative. Senator Germán Rodríguez of Salvación Nacional, another conservative party, said Alcocer could end up in prison.
The political background is a tense transition. For how power is split in Bogotá today, see Colombia Politics Explained, Who Holds Power in 2026. The new government is also pushing other changes to the rules of the game, covered in Colombia Debates Bringing Back Re-election.
Doubts and Denials
Not everyone takes Ferrer at her word. María Jimena Duzán is a veteran Colombian journalist. She said on X that Ferrer gave her a “different version” in a podcast interview on 14 August. Duzán suggested the new interviews were meant to pressure Alcocer’s circle into paying fees Ferrer says she is owed.
In that August interview, Ferrer said she was owed four months of fees. She denied using threats to get money or a job.
Alcocer has denied Ferrer’s earlier accusations. When Semana published audio recordings of Ferrer in August, Alcocer wrote to Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo that the claims “lack any basis and do not correspond to reality,” and offered to cooperate with prosecutors. Petro, then still president, called the reports a slander that should be answered with criminal action, La Silla Vacía reported. Neither had addressed the new drug and flight claims publicly by Sunday morning in the reports reviewed.
Agmeth Escaf, a congressman from the Caribbean coast whom Ferrer also accused, rejected the claims. He said she attributes “very serious crimes” to him without public evidence. He added that a civil lawsuit and a criminal libel complaint against her are under way.
What It Means for You
For US readers, the key point is that the claims touch an existing US sanctions case. The Treasury designated Petro, Alcocer, Petro’s eldest son Nicolás Petro and former minister Armando Benedetti under counter-narcotics rules. All four remain on the list after a recent update, El País of Cali reported.
Under those sanctions, their assets in the United States are blocked. US persons are generally barred from dealing with them. The request marks a sharp change from the Petro years, when relations with Washington soured.
For investors, this is a political story, not a market one. It concerns the previous government and does not change policy. It may, however, keep Colombia’s relationship with Venezuela in the headlines. Travellers are not affected.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether the photos Ferrer described exist. Nor is it known whether official flight records match her account. The Attorney General’s Office had not said by Saturday whether it would open a case.
It is also unclear what US agencies will do with the request. Alcocer and Petro had not answered the new claims publicly. Ferrer’s account of the US$2.5 million rests on what she says Grau told her; Grau has not commented in the reports reviewed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Eva Ferrer?
A Spanish political strategist who worked on Gustavo Petro’s 2022 campaign. She later served as a presidential adviser and personally advised former first lady Verónica Alcocer. She made her allegations in an interview with Semana published on 10 October 2026.
Has Verónica Alcocer been charged with anything?
No. The claims are allegations made in a media interview, and no charges have been filed over them. President Abelardo De La Espriella has ordered an Air Force inquiry and asked prosecutors and US authorities to look at the information.
Is Verónica Alcocer under US sanctions?
Yes. The US Treasury designated her under counter-narcotics rules on 24 October 2025. Gustavo Petro, his eldest son Nicolás Petro and Armando Benedetti were listed too. Colombian media report that all four remain on the list.
Sources: Semana, president’s statement, 10 October 2026; US Treasury, OFAC designation of Gustavo Petro and associates, 24 October 2025; Infobae Colombia; El Colombiano; Caracol Radio; El Espectador; Infobae, Duzán reaction; Semana, Alcocer letter, 3 August 2026; La Silla Vacía; El País (Cali), OFAC list update.
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