Colombia’s largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), has said it had nothing to do with the alleged drug ship destroyed by the US Navy in the Caribbean.

The ship was attacked on Friday, and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth later released footage of the attack on X and said that, according to US intelligence, it had been “associated” with the ELN and “involved in illicit drug trafficking.”

The National Liberation Army issued a statement on social media on Tuesday, insisting that “It does not have nor will it have any vessel related to drug trafficking activities, neither in the Caribbean nor in any other ocean.” Drug trafficking is “simply… forbidden” according to the group’s rules, he said, quoted by Reuters.

The ELN is Colombia’s oldest rebel group and has been fighting the government since the mid-1960s. Washington says it also maintains a presence in Venezuela. The group, which pursues communist ideology, is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the EU and some other countries.

On Monday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack on the ship, in which three people died. The boat belonged to a “humble family” and he was not involved in drug trafficking, he insisted.

Earlier this month, Petro claimed that US attacks on ships off the coast of Venezuela, which began in September, were “an aggression against all of Latin America and the Caribbean.” He claimed the United States was trying to gain control of the region’s oil reserves, not stem the flow of narcotics. Venezuelan authorities say the attacks were actually part of Washington’s campaign to overthrow Nicolás Maduro. Caracas denies having ties to the cartels and has promised to repel any invasion.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump called his Colombian counterpart “illegal drug dealer” saying it would increase tariffs on the South American nation and suspend all payments. drug trafficking “It has become the biggest business” in Colombia and “Petro does nothing to stop him” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Bogotá responded by recalling its ambassador in Washington on Monday, and Petro accused Trump of being “rude and ignorant towards Colombia.”

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