Colombian security forces have killed five members of the country’s biggest drug cartel, including a top regional kingpin, the government said on Wednesday ahead of a meeting between Presidents Gustavo Petro and Donald Trump in Washington.
The US leader will host leftist rival Petro at the White House next Tuesday for talks on the fight. Drug trafficking from Colombiathe world’s leading producer of cocaine.
Writing in XColombian Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said seven members of the Gulf Clan were “neutralized” in a joint operation by police and the air force in the Magdalena department of the Caribbean Sea. A Defense Ministry official told AFP on Wednesday that five cartel members had been killed and two captured.
Sanchez said that among the dead was Wilson Dario Ruiz Velez, nicknamed “Moises” or “07” and who, according to the minister, was “responsible for the violent expansion of the group in the Caribbean region”. last month, The Trump administration named it the Gulf Klan as a foreign terrorist organization, opening the door to potential military action against them.
The much-anticipated meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Petro comes after a bitter war of words on social media, which ended with Washington. punishing Peter and his family for alleged drug trafficking.
The former left-wing guerrilla Petro denies the accusations.
He has been highly critical of Mr. Trump deportations of migrants and of Washington campaign of deadly strikes In suspected drug vessels in Latin America.
in one exclusive interview with CBS News In October, Petro said some of the dead in US strikes in South America were innocent civilians, again accusing the strikes of violating international law.
The White House denies the allegations, and President Trump has defended the strikes as a legitimate part of the fight against drug cartels.
After the US Removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolas MaduroMr Trump has warned Petro to “watch his ass”, but the pair have tried to ease tensions and vowed to cooperate in the war on drugs.
Petro’s government has held peace talks with Qatar’s Gulf Clan as part of the president’s call to dismantle all remaining armed groups in Colombia.
The negotiations have not yet yielded tangible results.
Last April, eight members Gulf Clan members were killed in clashes with security forces.