Colombia investigates claims of drug flights, Venezuela cash tied to Petro’s ex-wife

Colombia admin October 13, 2026 0 Comments

Colombia investigates claims of drug flights, Venezuela cash tied to Petro’s ex-wife

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered an Air Force investigation following allegations that official aircraft assigned to former first lady Verónica Alcocer were used to transport drugs and millions of dollars between Colombia and Venezuela, escalating a controversy involving the inner circle of former President Gustavo Petro.

The order followed an interview published Saturday by Semana magazine in which Eva Ferrer, a former adviser to Alcocer and presidential counselor during Petro’s administration, claimed that the former first lady’s trips to Venezuela involved illicit cargo and cash. Petro rejected the accusations, questioning their reliance on information Ferrer said she received from others.

“I have ordered the Air Force commander to conduct a thorough investigation into the serious allegations reported by Semana magazine. What happened must be clarified and responsibility established,” De la Espriella wrote on X.

The president said the Air Force’s inspector general and counterintelligence units would investigate current and former personnel associated with the military air transport command. If service members are found to be implicated, he said, they would be immediately retired from service and required to answer to the appropriate authorities.

De la Espriella also called on the attorney general’s office, the Supreme Court, the inspector general’s office and U.S. authorities to examine the reporting and conduct any investigations warranted within their respective jurisdictions. His statement announced an internal military investigation but did not establish whether those other institutions had opened criminal or disciplinary proceedings.

The allegations center in part on a trip Ferrer said Alcocer made to Venezuela in January 2023, during Petro’s presidency. In her interview with journalist Vicky Dávila, Ferrer alleged that Alcocer returned with $2.5 million, some of which was intended to finance the political campaign of her cousin, Mario Fernández Alcocer.

Ferrer attributed that account to Manel Grau, a Catalan businessman she described as closely involved with Alcocer’s activities. She also said Grau subsequently confirmed to her that drugs were involved in the travel.

“Manel tells me they bring $2.5 million,” Ferrer said in the interview, adding that the money was intended, among other purposes, “to pay for the cousin’s campaign.”

The interview does not establish that Ferrer personally witnessed drugs being transported or inspected the contents of any luggage. Her account of the alleged trafficking relies substantially on conversations with Grau and other people, making the distinction between firsthand observations and information relayed to her central to evaluating the accusations.

Asked why she believed drugs were involved, Ferrer referred to photographs she said apparently existed showing Alcocer descending from an aircraft with gray suitcases. Her description did not independently establish what those suitcases contained, and the supposed movement of drugs and cash has not been substantiated by the reporting.

Ferrer said flights to Venezuela were handled by Carolina Plata, an assistant to Alcocer, and described the arrangements as highly confidential. She also distinguished between the presidential aircraft and an aircraft assigned to the first lady, cautioning Dávila against treating them as the same plane.

Semana separately reported that it had obtained records of 149 flights attributed to Alcocer during Petro’s administration, most involving state aircraft. Such records could help establish the dates, routes and passengers associated with particular trips, but would not by themselves demonstrate that aircraft carried illicit cargo.

Petro, who was president of Colombia from 2022 to 2026, responded on X by attacking Ferrer’s credibility and questioning the basis of her allegations. According to El Colombiano newspaper’s account of his response, he said the accusations rested on someone having told Ferrer a story, rather than on evidence she personally obtained.

Petro said those responsible had committed “the worst act of vileness of their lives,” describing the interview as an attack against the mother of his daughters. He called those behind the accusations “miserable and irresponsible” and argued that the controversy was being used to target military officers who had fulfilled their duty to protect the presidential family.

His response challenged both the allegations and the consequences for security personnel, asserting that officers should not be punished for carrying out orders to safeguard his relatives. Alcocer and Petro divorced in August, according to the published reports.

Ferrer, meanwhile, said she decided to speak publicly because she feared for her safety and professional reputation. She told Semana that she had spent two months in hiding after receiving a warning that people she was discussing were involved in drug and weapons trafficking. She also alleged that her family in Spain had received threatening calls. Those assertions, like the trafficking accusations, have not been corroborated.

De la Espriella’s order places the conduct of military personnel and the use of state aircraft under official scrutiny, while leaving investigators to determine whether the reported trips involved wrongdoing and who, if anyone, should be held responsible.