WASHINGTON – US authorities arrested the wife of jailed Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman yesterday at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, the Justice Department said.
Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, faces one charge of conspiracy to traffic cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the United States, it said.
Guzman was the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s most notorious drug trafficking groups, before he was extradited to the United States in 2017. He was sentenced to life in prison in July 2019.
Coronel, according to the Justice Department, took part in cartel activities and also allegedly assisted in two plots to help Guzman escape from Mexican prison, including the successful first one in 2015.
It was not previously known that US authorities intended to arrest her.
A dual US-Mexico citizen and the mother of twins by Guzman, Coronel appeared in court nearly every day of his three-month trial in New York.
There were suggestions that she was involved in his business and prison escape, but authorities let her come and go freely.
“I can only say that I have nothing to be ashamed of. I am not perfect, but I consider myself a good human being who has never hurt anyone intentionally,” she said at the end of the trial.
She is expected to appear by video conference in the federal district court in Washington tomorrow. – AFP, February 23, 2021
