The Trump administration has not released evidence supporting its claim that those on board these vessels were trafficking drugs. In late July, the Trump administration sanctioned the Cartel de los Soles as a global terrorist organization and accused Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro of leading it. Cocaine production in Colombia has steadily risen for 10 years straight, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. Petro, who took office in 2022, began his first day as president lambasting the failures of the U.S.-led war on drugs. In Petro’s attempts to negotiate peace deals with armed groups, criminal groups have taken advantage of ceasefires to expand.