Papá Pitufo’s Extradition Advances Amid Corruption Scandal Tied to Petro’s Campaign

The controversy surrounding the alleged illicit funding of President Gustavo Petro’s 2022 campaign by one of the most powerful smugglers in Colombia, Diego Marín Buitrago, also known as “Papá Pitufo,” continues to grow, while Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office has confirmed that the procedures with Portuguese authorities are advancing towards Marín’s extradition.

In an interview with local magazine Cambio on March 6, Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo stated that a Portuguese court had initially approved the extradition of Marín to Colombia. However, the ruling was appealed, and the final decision is now in the hands of Portugal’s Supreme Court.

Marín’s case has dominated Colombia’s political agenda in recent months after the appearance of allegations linking him to Petro’s 2022 presidential campaign. In 2022, Marín attended a campaign meeting in a villa near Bogotá where he allegedly handed over $500,000,000 COP (around $120,000 USD as of the date of publication) to Petro’s political strategist, Xavier Vendrell (a Catalan advisor with a controversial role in Petro’s government) in cash.

President Petro has acknowledged the meeting and admitted that the money was received, but once they realized the origin of the money, they returned it. There is no clear explanation as to why the campaign did not immediately report the matter to authorities: Former Attorney General Francisco Barbosa remarked that no formal complaint was filed regarding the illegal funding. “What is worrying is not only [Petro’s] relationship with this man (trips on his plane, meetings and million-dollar contributions to his campaign), but his absolute silence when these events occurred,” Barbosa stated in a post on X.

As reported by popular Colombian news program Noticias Caracol, shortly after a confidential meeting at Colombia’s Ministry of Defense in late October 2023, in which evidence about the criminal network, bribery and corruption linked to Marín was shared, he managed to escape from Colombia to Spain on October 30, 2023, just before authorities could act. The identity of who warned him remains unknown, but it is believed to be a high-level official that attended the meeting.

In April 2024, Spanish authorities arrested Marín in Valencia, but a local court granted him conditional release, prohibiting him from leaving the country while his legal status was reviewed. However, instead of complying with the order, Marín escaped again. He crossed into Portugal, sought political asylum there and shortly the Judiciary Police, in accordance with the international search warrant sent by Interpol and issued by the Colombian authorities, was arrested in December 2024 in Portugal, where he is now under preventive detention awaiting for extradition.

Diego Marín’s criminal network extends far beyond electoral politics. At the time of his arrest in Portugal, he had been under investigation for years for leading one of Colombia’s largest smuggling and money laundering operations. Authorities have identified a vast corruption network that allegedly included high-ranking police and military officials who facilitated Marín’s contraband empire. According to Colombia newspaper El Tiempo, undercover agents—including a major in the Fiscal and Customs Police (Polfa) who initially accepted bribes—were key players in exposing the scheme.

The revelations have already triggered major repercussions within the government. In February, the administration unexpectedly removed General William René Salamanca from his position as Director of the National Police. The decision came shortly before Cambio was set to publish its report detailing Marín’s illicit financial contributions to Petro’s campaign.

President Petro has sought to distance himself from Marín. “I know how much Marín tried to reach me, thinking I was like the others. The truth will come out. His employees will reveal the traps he set. But I am ready—if the Attorney General’s Office does a thorough job—to expose all the infiltration within the state, no matter who falls,” he said in a post on X.

Every week, new revelations surrounding this case emerge or more high-level officials are implicated in the scandal, potentially leading to political and legal consequences in Colombia or at least re-shaping the future of President Petro’s political aspirations.

No amigos de Caracol TV, el señor Marin no logró meter dinero en la campaña.

No desinformen. Meter dinero en campañas es consignar en sus cuentas o usarlos en la misma. Ordené al portador que devolviera ese dinero de inmediato a su dueño y lo hice porque no me interesa ganar con… https://t.co/LjcwWiP436

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) February 13, 2025

Headline Photo: Diego Marín Buitrago, aka “Papa Pitufo”(Photo: National Police)