Noboa accuses Petro of integrating narco network after Luisa González detention in Manabí
President Noboa linked Gustavo Petro to drug trafficking following his defence of Luisa González, detained on 22 October in Manabí for irregularities in campaign funds.
Noboa responds to Petro and points to him as part of criminal network
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa accused Colombian former president Gustavo Petro of being part of a criminal group, after Petro came to the defence of Luisa González following her detention, according to reporting by vistazo.com.
On the morning of Thursday 22 October 2026, Ecuador's Public Prosecutor's Office and Police carried out an operation in the province of Manabí to capture González for the purpose of filing charges for alleged irregularities in the funds of the 2023 presidential campaign.
The detention generated immediate reactions both within and outside the country. Former president Rafael Correa was among the first to speak out, writing on X: "They arrested Luisa González. ENOUGH NOW!". Petro reposted that message and added that "a true dictatorship is developing in Ecuador, which begins with electoral fraud".
In response to those statements, Colombia's Semana magazine consulted Noboa, who responded with direct accusations against the Colombian leader.
This is not the first time Noboa has pointed to Petro. In April of this year, in an interview with the same publication, he stated that Petro met in Manta with members of the Revolución Ciudadana movement, some of whom would have links to alias "Fito", leader of Los Choneros, currently detained in the United States.
Noboa has also maintained on various occasions that during Petro's government coca cultivation increased in Colombian departments near the Ecuadorian border.
The tensions between the two countries have recent precedents: Ecuador imposed a tariff of up to 100% on Colombian products as a pressure measure over the security situation at the border, which led to the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Source: Google News EC — Crime