Petro extradites drug lord hours before White House visit

Under pressure from Washington, the leftist leader resumed the extraditions of criminal leaders to the United States, which had been suspended for months amid stalled peace negotiations with armed groups in his country.

Petro "gave a very clear order over the weekend that the criminal alias Pipe Tulua be extradited from Colombia to the United States as quickly as possible," Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday.

Sanchez will be accompanying Petro to Washington, for what will be the president's first face-to-face meeting with Trump.

The criminal leader was wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest when he was put aboard an executive jet that took off from a military base at Bogota's airport early Tuesday.

Nearly 70 uniformed officers were deployed for his transfer, said police Colonel Elver Sanabria.

The highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Petro follows a bitter war of words on social media, which culminated with Washington sanctioning Petro and his family for alleged narcotrafficking.

Colombia abruptly agreed to accept US deportation flights on Friday, effectively offering an olive branch to Trump days before the White House meeting.