Key Points
The Petro drug investigation has escalated sharply after both the New York Times and the Associated Press revealed that two federal prosecutors in New York are pursuing separate criminal probes into the Colombian president’s alleged links to narcotraffickers. The DEA has designated Petro a “priority target,” with records showing he appeared in multiple investigations dating back to 2022, The Rio Times, the Latin American financial news outlet, reports.
What the Petro Drug Investigation Covers
The Manhattan and Brooklyn prosecutors are working independently, each with specialists in international narcotics trafficking, DEA agents, and Homeland Security Investigations officers. According to three sources cited by the Times, the probes examine possible meetings between Petro and drug traffickers and whether his 2022 presidential campaign solicited donations from criminal organizations.
The AP added a critical detail: prosecutors have been interrogating incarcerated narcotraffickers about accusations that Petro’s representatives solicited bribes at La Picota prison in Bogotá — allegedly in exchange for promises that certain traffickers would not be extradited to the United States. DEA records also link the investigation to possible dealings with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel.
Petro Fires Back
Petro responded within hours on social media, denying any connection to drug trafficking. He stated that no Colombian investigation has ever linked him to narcotraffickers and that he spent 10 years of his political career exposing alliances between drug lords and powerful politicians during what he called the era of “paramilitary governance.”
Regarding his 2022 campaign, Petro said he gave explicit orders that no donations from bankers or drug traffickers would be accepted. He framed the investigations as an opportunity to dismantle accusations from Colombia’s far right, which he accused of being deeply intertwined with narcotrafficking networks. Colombia’s embassy in Washington called the reports unsubstantiated.
The Trump Factor
The investigations emerged just weeks after Petro and Trump appeared to stabilize their volatile relationship during a February White House meeting. Trump had previously sanctioned Petro through the Treasury Department in late 2025 and called him a “sick man who likes to produce cocaine and sell it.” Neither the NYT nor AP found evidence that the White House initiated the probes.
But both publications noted that Trump has repeatedly used criminal investigations as leverage against foreign leaders. The NYT explicitly raised the possibility that the probes could be deployed to influence Colombia’s May presidential election, where Petro’s handpicked successor, Senator Iván Cepeda, leads the polls.
A Pattern Across Latin America
The Petro drug investigation follows a broader pattern of Washington using legal tools against left-wing Latin American leaders. Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro was captured in January after a military operation predicated on existing drug charges. Cuba’s leadership faces a parallel narcotics investigation from a Trump-aligned prosecutor in Florida.
The Manhattan and Brooklyn offices probing Petro are the same that built cases against Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and senior Venezuelan officials. The institutional firepower behind these investigations is unmistakable.
The probes remain in their early stages, and no charges have been filed. But for Colombia — the world’s largest cocaine producer and one of Washington’s most important regional allies — the political fallout is already real. Whether the investigations produce evidence or remain a diplomatic pressure tool, they have injected deep uncertainty into a country heading to the polls in May with its most consequential election in a generation.