Francisco Barbosa says Colombia’s intelligence agencies surveilled him while he led the prosecution service, using wiretaps, physical surveillance and searches of state databases. The former attorney general said on Saturday 3 October 2026 that the alleged operations sought to intimidate prosecutors investigating people close to former president Gustavo Petro.
Barbosa says he’ll file a criminal complaint on Monday 5 October. He has asked the Fiscalía, the office he once ran, to investigate whoever ordered, carried out or covered up the alleged surveillance. The people who controlled the state apparatus remain unknown, and no one has been charged.
Surveillance allegations reach the prosecution service
Barbosa says the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI) and the Financial Information and Analysis Unit (UIAF) took part. The UIAF tracks suspicious money flows for the Finance Ministry. His former deputy, Martha Mancera, was allegedly watched too.
Barbosa says he wants the inquiry to move quickly, “so that time does not erase the criminal traces,” Infobae quoted him as saying. He’s also asked the DNI and UIAF to hand over and preserve documents, work orders and records concerning him. Those agencies must respond to his records requests, while the Fiscalía must decide whether and how to investigate.
The alleged surveillance took place during Barbosa’s four-year term, from February 2020 to February 2024. He called the operations one of the gravest attacks on judicial independence in Colombia’s recent history. That’s his characterization; no court has ruled on the allegations.
An audit, and questions about its reach
The allegations surfaced alongside a forensic audit of the DNI ordered by President Abelardo de la Espriella. The right-wing lawyer took office in August, and Semana published the audit findings on Saturday. Auditors collected 147 terabytes of data, 40 computers and five phones or tablets, according to Semana, and classified more than 100 DNI staff members as a critical or high security risk.
Semana wrote that the agency became “a kind of political police” under Petro. The magazine also questioned a drone purchased for COP 9 billion, about US$2.7 million, that crashed in the Catatumbo region. Weekly intelligence reports reached Petro, the magazine reported. A UIAF source told Semana that anyone who “smells of uribismo,” the movement of former president Álvaro Uribe, was watched.
Semana’s list of alleged targets includes former presidents Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque, former Inspector General Margarita Cabello and former Comptroller Carlos Felipe Córdoba. It also names right-wing politicians María Fernanda Cabal and Paloma Valencia, along with retired generals Eduardo Zapateiro and Luis Fernando Navarro. La FM reported a similar list on Saturday.
Claims remain allegations; no one is charged
Petro’s political opponent commissioned the audit. Its findings remain allegations; no court has ruled on them, and everyone named is presumed innocent. Reports published on Saturday carried no response from Petro or the five men who ran the DNI under him. The DNI had earlier rejected accusations from de la Espriella and asked for evidence, Semana noted.
The DNI began operating in 2011, replacing the DAS, which authorities dissolved after it spied on Supreme Court judges, journalists and opposition figures. That scandal, known locally as the “chuzadas” or wiretaps, hit the government of Álvaro Uribe. The agency created to replace one discredited by surveillance now faces fresh allegations about intelligence power used against political and judicial figures. Barbosa’s complaint is due Monday; the Fiscalía’s next move, and the agencies’ response to his records requests, remain pending.