Colombian president’s son arrested for money laundering

Colombian presidents son arrested for money laundering
full screen Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Archive image. Photo: Ivan Valencia/AP/TT

Police have arrested Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s son Nicolas Petro – suspected of money laundering linked to last year’s presidential campaign.

“I wish my son happiness and strength. May these events build his character and may he reflect on his mistakes,” writes the country’s first leftist president on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The president says he will not interfere in the investigation.

Nicolas Petro and his ex-wife Days Vazquez were arrested early Saturday morning by order of a court in Bogotá, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

It was in March of this year that Vazquez claimed that last year Nicolas Petro received large sums of money from drug traffickers for his father’s presidential campaign, but which he instead used to live in luxury in the town of Barranquilla.

afbl-general-01