Colombian President's Eldest Son Arrested for Receiving Drug Dealer Money... Ex-Wife Reveals

Suspected of Receiving Hundreds of Millions from Drug Traffickers
Father Says "Heartbreaking but Strict Investigation is Necessary"

The son of the Colombian president has been arrested. He is accused of receiving and pocketing several hundred million won from drug traffickers.

On the 29th (local time), the Colombian prosecution announced in a press release, "The arrest warrant issued by the court for Nicol?s Fernando Petro Burgos (hereafter Nicol?s Petro) was executed at 6 a.m. today." The charges revealed by the prosecution are money laundering and embezzlement.

Nicol?s Petro, 37 years old this year, is the eldest son of Gustavo Petro (63), the president of Colombia who has six children, and is a member of the House of Representatives for Atl?ntico Department.

Nicol?s Petro is accused of receiving money from two drug traffickers during his father's presidential election campaign last year and keeping it personally without recording it in the accounting books. He is also accused of fabricating false explanations about the acquisition of the money without disclosing its source.

Earlier, Nicol?s Petro's estranged ex-wife, Deisyuris V?squez, revealed in an interview with local media earlier this year that her husband received a large sum of money from drug traffickers and smugglers for his father's presidential campaign last year. However, the ex-wife added, "I do not know whether this money was actually used for the election campaign."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro (front) and eldest son Nicolas Petro (Image source=AFP Yonhap News)

The prosecution did not mention the scale of the embezzlement, but the ex-wife claimed at the time of the revelation that it was "1 billion Colombian pesos (approximately 320 million won)." The ex-wife was also arrested by the prosecution on the same day on charges of money laundering and violation of personal information protection laws.

The investigation began after President Petro himself requested an investigation by the prosecution in March. At that time, President Petro urged a strict investigation, saying, "The truth must be determined quickly and thoroughly."

When his son was arrested that day, President Petro posted on his social media (SNS), "As a person and as a father, my heart aches deeply," but added, "As I have already told the attorney general, I will never interfere with or pressure the investigation." He also added, "I hope my son reflects on his mistakes through this incident."

Petro, who comes from a poor farming family, was a guerrilla fighter who attempted to overthrow the right-wing Colombian government by force in the 1980s. He was also imprisoned after being caught attacking the Supreme Court building with weapons stolen from a government armory.

As the leader of the left-wing coalition, President Petro won the presidential election last June with 50.4% of the vote, defeating the centrist-right candidate Rodolfo Hern?ndez, who received 47.3%. This marks the first left-wing government in Colombian history.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.