Petro proposes not to extradite drug traffickers who collaborate with the State and do not reoffend

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has proposed on Wednesday that those drug traffickers who collaborate with the State and as long as they do not reoffend, may avoid being extradited to the United States, a country that usually claims them for various crimes related to drug trafficking.

“A drug trafficker who negotiates legal benefits with the Colombian State and stops being a drug trafficker will not be extradited”, Petro announced during the joint press conference with the president of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, who is on an official visit to the coffee-growing country.

“What we proposed to them is, a drug trafficker who does not negotiate with the State, will be extradited; a drug trafficker who negotiates with the State and reoffends will be extradited, without any type of negotiation, to the United States”, he explained.

Petro said that this new proposal was presented to the White House during the meeting he held with the Colombian ambassador to the United States, Luis Gilberto Murillo, with representatives of Washington.

Since he arrived at Casa Nariño, President Petro has bet on a new policy to deal with drugs, after the previous ones have been an “absolute failure”.

This week, for example, the new director of the National Police, Major General Henry Sanabria, announced the end of forced eradication operations with glyphosate of illicit crops, as well as the implementation of initiatives to either end these plantations voluntarily or replace them.