Colombian President Gustavo Petro has been designated a “priority target” by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as federal prosecutors in New York examine his alleged ties to drug traffickers, according to an Associated Press report citing people familiar with the matter and DEA records.

DEA records show Petro has surfaced in multiple investigations since 2022, including allegations involving possible contacts with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and claims that his “total peace” policy was used to benefit traffickers who contributed to his presidential campaign. The records also pointed to alleged use of law enforcement channels to move cocaine and fentanyl through Colombian ports, according to the news agency. 

The records drew in part on information from confidential sources alleging possible links between Petro and major trafficking groups, including the Sinaloa cartel and Venezuela’s so-called Cartel of the Suns, according to the AP. One 2024 source cited in the records alleged Petro used former campaign aides and officials at state oil company Ecopetrol to move presidential funds abroad for his future use, the AP said. 

The “priority target” designation is reserved for suspects the DEA believes have a “significant impact” on the drug trade, the news outlet reported, adding that it was not clear when Petro received that status.

Prosecutors in Brooklyn and Manhattan have in recent months questioned traffickers about alleged links to Petro, including whether representatives of the Colombian president solicited bribes to block extraditions to the United States. One focus of the inquiry is alleged bribery involving traffickers held at La Picota prison in Colombia, where intermediaries were said to have offered protection from extradition, the report said.

Petro has denied any ties to drug trafficking and it remains unclear whether federal prosecutors have implicated him in any crime, according to the report. 

Read more at the Associated Press