Gustavo Petro Reacts to Trump's DEA Designating Him a 'Priority Target'

Source: Newsweek

Published Mar 20, 2026 at 03:21 PM EDT updated Mar 20, 2026 at 04:11 PM EDT


Colombian President Gustavo Petro rejected allegations that he has ties to drug traffickers after reports emerged that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has designated him a “priority target” amid a federal probe in New York examining his alleged connections to the drug trade.

Petro responded Friday on X with a lengthy public statement, saying there is “not a single investigation” in Colombia linking him to traffickers and insisting he has never spoken with anyone involved in the drug trade. He said he spent a decade of his life exposing links between powerful drug traffickers and politicians, a campaign he said placed his life at risk and forced his family into exile. Newsweek reached out to the DEA for comment via email on Friday afternoon.

Petro Denies Allegations Made by US

“As you well know, in Colombia there isn’t a single investigation into my relationship with drug traffickers, for one simple reason: never in my life have I spoken with a drug trafficker,” Petro wrote, adding that he devoted years to denouncing what he described as an era of paramilitary influence over local and national governments.

Petro also denied that drug money played any role in his presidential campaign, saying he has consistently instructed campaign managers to reject donations from traffickers or bankers.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/gustavo-petro-reacts-dea-priority-target-trump-11713326