Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he learned the United States' attack on Venezuela struck a cocaine processing facility in Maracaibo that he said belonged to the National Liberation Army, or ELN.
Petro said the site was used to mix coca paste into cocaine and linked it directly to the ELN, the Colombian guerrilla group with a strong presence in the Catatumbo region, a strategic border area for drug processing.
"We know Trump bombed a factory in Maracaibo. We believe coca paste is mixed there to make cocaine, taking advantage of its location on the waters of Lake Maracaibo. It is simply the ELN. The ELN, through its criminal activity and rigid ideology, is allowing the invasion of Venezuela," Petro wrote on X.
His comments followed statements by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said Monday that U.S. forces struck "a large facility" linked to drug trafficking in Venezuelan territory.
Related
