The US has placed sanctions on Colombia's left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, accusing him of failing to curb drug trafficking.
President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Sanctions have also been imposed on Colombia's Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, as well as Petro's wife and eldest son. They include barring them from accessing assets and properties they may have in the US.
Colombia was once a close ally of Washington's war on drugs, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars annually in military assistance. But Petro and Trump have clashed frequently since Trump's return to power.
Bessent stated that since Petro, a former guerrilla, took office, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans.
He added that Trump was taking strong action and would not tolerate drug trafficking into the US.
The Treasury identified Colombia as the world's top exporter of cocaine, which poses a significant drug threat to the US.
In a separate statement, the state department confirmed it would not certify Colombia's counter-narcotics efforts.
Petro denied the accusations, asserting he had been fighting drug trafficking for decades and aided the US in reducing its cocaine consumption.
In recent weeks, the US military has intensified operations in the southern Caribbean, targeting vessels alleged to be involved in drug trafficking.
Last week, Trump announced the suspension of payments and subsidies to Colombia, following Petro's condemnation of recent military airstrikes as an act of tyranny that violated Colombian sovereignty.
Sanctions on heads of state, like Petro, are rare but have occurred previously with leaders from countries such as Russia, North Korea, and Venezuela.
