Far-left President of Colombia Gustavo Petro on Tuesday claimed that there was an alleged plot to sabotage his recent meeting with President Donald Trump by planting “psychoactive substances” in the Colombian presidential vehicle.
Petro levied his claims during a four-hour, thirty-minute-long broadcasted meeting of his council of ministers in the northern city of Monteria, Córdoba. He did not present any evidence to substantiate his claim during the broadcast.
“There is a general who I ordered to be removed from the police force. Someone gave him the order to put psychoactive substances in my car, and his mission was to destroy the meeting with Trump in one way or another,” Petro claimed.
Petro traveled to Washington last week and met with President Trump at the White House. The encounter was widely described as amiable and a stark contrast from the highly hostile stance that Petro adopted against Trump throughout 2025.
“A path is born where different powers can meet. We didn’t hit or scratch each other; we look for solutions,” Petro reportedly said to the press after meeting with Trump.
Although Petro did not disclose the name of the official allegedly behind the purported drug plant plot, military sources claimed to Caracol Radio on Wednesday the man Petro referred to is General Edwin Urrego Pedraza, who until recently served as commander of the Cali City Police force. Urrego occupied other high-ranking Colombian police positions in the past such as head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol, and Commander of the Barranquilla Metropolitan Police.
Speaking to Blu Radio on Wednesday morning, Urrego denied any participation in any purported plot to plant drugs in Petro’s presidential vehicle prior to his meeting with Trump, describing the allegations as “madness” and as “misinformation” from the Colombian President.
The official emphasized to the radio station that he has never attempted to commit any dishonest act that would affect his ethics or the honor of the Colombian law enforcement institutions and assured that he has never even been physically close to the presidential vehicle.
“I am willing to undergo polygraph tests, whatever is required to clarify this matter,” Urrego said, highlighting his 32-year career and past successful confidence tests, including processes with U.S. agencies such as HSI and ICE.
Urrego delivered similar statements to Caracol Radio shortly afterwards and stated that he had not received any formal notification of the accusations, describing allegations linking him to an attempted conspiracy plot against Petro as “madness.” He explained that he only found out about the situation from a video sent to him via the WhatsApp messaging platform and that, up to that point, no Colombian authority has shown any evidence against him.
“The information the President has received is completely inaccurate. It does not reflect reality. To even consider taking such action would be contrary to democracy itself,” he said, expressing his willingness to provide information to any authority, including international authorities, should the situation require a formal investigation.
“No one has given me the opportunity to defend myself, nor have they presented me with any evidence. And I don’t think there is any, because it didn’t happen,” he added.
General Urrego said that he will take legal action to “defend his honor” if he is called to evaluate services or is retired from the police force as a result of the ongoing situation, stressing, “What the President has said has criminal implications. I would have to clarify that situation and take it to the highest authorities.”
On Tuesday, the Colombian magazine Semana reported that, according to sources inside the Colombian police, Petro is being allegedly “misinformed” over the purported plot. The sources claimed to the magazine that “the whole thing was a setup against the general” and part of a retaliation campaign by drug-trafficking groups in Barranquilla and Puerto Colombia that Urrego had targeted in the past. The sources reportedly asserted that an “anonymous tip” was created with the information of the alleged plot, which reached Petro.
The police sources further claimed to Semana that it is all “misunderstanding and false information intended to damage the general’s image with the president” due to Urrego Pedraza having allegedly uncovered public officials, active police officers, and well-known family clans involved in illegal activities during investigations he carried out when he served as commander of Barranquilla.
Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president ever and a proud former member of the Marxist M19 terrorist group, is an open advocate for the legalization and use of cocaine. Former members of his administration have accused Petro of allegedly suffering from unspecified drug addiction.
Gustavo Petro will leave office on August 2026 at the end of his four-year term. The Colombian president is barred from running for president again as per the terms of Colombia’s constitution, which strictly prohibits any president or vice president from serving more than one term. Colombia will hold a presidential election on May 31 and a prospective runoff election between the two most-voted candidates on June 21 should no candidate attain the required vote threshold to win in the first round.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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