Drug traffickers profit from end of intelligence cooperation between Colombia and the US

"Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered Colombian intelligence services to suspend the transfer of information to U.S. agencies on Tuesday night, ending decades of bilateral cooperation through a publication on X. This measure will remain in effect as long as the missile attacks on boats in the Caribbean continue, he explained. The news has not yet received a response from President Donald Trump or his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, but the reduction in intelligence cooperation is not unique to Colombia."

"In recent days, both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, which do not have such a tense relationship with the White House but do have territories in the Caribbean, have also limited the intelligence they send to Washington. According to CNN, the British government fears that the information they gather on their islands is being used for indiscriminate U.S. bombings. The only ones who benefit from the end of this cooperation, experts say, are those supposedly being targeted: the drug traffickers."

"Elizabeth Dickinson, a researcher with the International Crisis Group, believes that if Petro doesn't change his mind, it would be a very strong blow against the United States, because Washington depends heavily on Colombia in the war on drugs. She cites, for example, a figure revealed by Congressman Gregory Meeks before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Relations, according to which 85% of the intelligence gathered at the Key West Naval and Air Base between January 2024 and June 2025 came from Colombia."

Colombia suspended intelligence transfers to U.S. agencies after missile attacks on boats in the Caribbean, halting decades of bilateral cooperation. The suspension will remain while the attacks continue. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands have also limited Caribbean intelligence sharing amid fears that island-derived data is used for indiscriminate U.S. strikes. Reductions in cooperation benefit drug traffickers by weakening interdiction efforts. A congressional figure indicates 85% of intelligence at Key West Naval and Air Base between January 2024 and June 2025 originated from Colombia, and that base coordinates U.S.-Latin America anti-drug operations. The United States has curtailed military intelligence sharing with Colombia and some NATO allies.

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