Colombia to continue work with US on drug trafficking, government says

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January 5, 2026 4:13 PM EST

Colombia's Minister of Interior Armando Benedetti speaks to the media on the day of a debate on a labor reform proposed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro's government, at the Congress in Bogota, Colombia, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Nathalia Angarita

BOGOTA, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Colombia ⁠will continue ⁠to ‍work with the United States to fight drug trafficking using Washington's intelligence and technology, the ‍South American nation said on Monday.

"The government of Colombia ​has let the U.S. government know … that we are going to ​keep coordinating and cooperating in the fight against drug trafficking,” Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said in a video with Justice Minister Andres ​Idarraga sent to journalists by the government.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called his Colombian counterpart Gustavo ​Petro "sick" and said a U.S. military operation in the country was possible.

Over the ‌weekend, U.S. troops entered Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro, who on Monday pleaded not guilty ​in a New York court ⁠to narcoterrorism charges.

Benedetti said that Colombia's anti-drug operations would target drug laboratories, criminal organizations and ‌their camps.

"We will continue to emphasize the fight against this scourge, particularly on the Colombian-Venezuelan border," Idarraga said.

Colombia has criticized ‌Trump's Sunday comments and said any potential U.S. incursion would be "undue interference."

Defense ‌Minister Pedro Sanchez said there was a "golden opportunity" to strengthen international collaboration against drug trafficking.

The U.S. is pressuring Colombia to ramp ‍up its fight against drug trafficking as cultivation of the coca leaf, the raw material ⁠used to make cocaine, has jumped in recent years.

Petro's government maintains that it has seized unprecedented levels of cocaine including nearly 1,000 metric tons in 2025.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)


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