Colombian President Gustavo Petro is being questioned as part of criminal investigations by two US federal prosecutors' offices, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Petro is not at the center of any of the investigations, but his behavior has come to light in narcoterrorism and drug trafficking investigations being handled by the U.S. Attorney's offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York, the source said.
"There are no ongoing investigations that are directly focused on him," the source told Reuters.
The New York Times first reported that U.S. prosecutors were closely examining Petron. According to the newspaper, the investigation involves prosecutors focused on international drug trafficking, along with agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations.
The report said investigators are looking into, among other things, Petros' possible meetings with drug traffickers and whether his presidential campaign solicited donations from traffickers.
Petro said in X that he had never spoken to a drug trafficker and that he had always instructed his campaign managers never to accept funds from them.
“A thorough and intensive investigation into my presidential campaign did not reveal a single peso taken from drug traffickers,” Petro said.
The investigations are in the early stages and it is not clear whether they will result in charges, the Times said.
