CÚCUTA, Colombia—Amid the coca-leaf farms in the undulating borderlands of Colombia and Venezuela, neither country’s government wields power. Instead, a criminal gang acts as a de facto state that threatens the Trump administration’s goal of halting the cocaine trade . Here in Colombia’s restive Catatumbo state, the National Liberation Army, or ELN, imposes a strict curfew of 6 p.m. in some towns. Its fighters patrol in camouflage uniforms and red-and-black face coverings—the group’s colors. Motorcyclists must drive without helmets, so the group’s fighters can see their faces.  Those caught communicating with a rival gang are led away and killed, their bodies discarded…

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