The wife of the Mexican drug kingpin known as El Chapo has been arrested at a US airport on international drug trafficking charges.
Emma Coronel Aispuro was held at Dulles International Airport in Virginia and is expected to appear in a federal court later. This is a statement from the US Justice Department.
She has been accused of distributing methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana in the US. She is also accused of helping her husband flee from prison via a secret tunnel in 2015.
Who is El Chapo?
Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman was Mexico’s most powerful drug lord. With his Sinaloa cartel responsible for smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the US during his 25-year unlawful career.
He had first escaped from a Mexican prison in 2001, leading authorities on a 13-year chase before he was recaptured.
It was his second major prison break in 2015 that his wife supposedly had a vital role in devising.
Guzman managed to escape through a hole under his cell’s shower that led to a mile-long, lighted tunnel. He used a motorbike on rails to speed up his escape.
The plot of the plan included buying a piece of land near the prison. Moreover, there were firearms, armoured trucks, and smuggling the drug lord to a GPS watch. The watch was for his allies to pinpoint his exact location to build the tunnel. The tunnel had an entry point accessible to him, say the court papers.
Prosecutors say that Coronel Aispuro, with Guzman’s son and a witness. The witness, though, now is co-operating with the government.
The 31-year-old is also cited for planning yet another escape before Guzman was deported to the US in 2017’s January.
In 2019, Guzman was sentenced to life behind bars. The infamous criminal was suspected of having an army of sicarios. These hitmen were under orders to kidnap, torture and even kill anyone who came in his way.
Coronel Aispuro was present regularly in her husband’s trial. While she remains in custody, it is unclear whether she has a lawyer who can comment on the allegations.