Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Colombian President Gustavo Petro for alleged ties to drug traffickers, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The people weren’t authorized to discuss the ongoing inquiry and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Prosecutors in Brooklyn and Manhattan in recent months have been questioning narcotraffickers about their ties to Petro and specifically about allegations the Colombian president’s representatives solicited bribes to block their extradition to the United States, said one of the people familiar with the inquiry.
A spokesperson for the Colombian presidency declined to comment on the ongoing investigations into Petro or the subsequent legal proceedings.
The federal inquiry was reported earlier Friday by The New York Times.
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Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Goodman reported from Miami. Mike Sisak contributed from New York and Astrid Suárez from Bogotá, Colombia,
