The four most important letters to understand the arrest of Emma Coronel after the fall of ‘Chapo’

Since the arrest of drug trafficker Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as “El Chapo”, and his extradition to the United States, where he is currently being held for life, the history of the struggle within the Sinaloa Cartel began to be told through correspondence.

Recently, correspondence between Joaquín Guzmán Loera and “Cleto” through “El Chapo’s” wife, Emma Coronel, led to the latter’s arrest in the United States.

Emma Coronel is in custody on charges of participating in international drug trafficking. Among the evidence provided by US authorities is a letter she received to be delivered to an alleged Durango heroin dealer nicknamed “Cleto.” This, along with other letters that have not been made public, is the latest piece of correspondence that has come to light to tell the story of the Sinaloa cartel over the years.

In the letter he wrote during his arrest in 2014, Joaquín Guzmán Loera is read with the following instructions: “As for Cleto, increase production so that it performs. Say hello to Cleto. Please tell him ‘give me your hand’ so that the first sale is on my side… because I have a lot of costs here ”.

In another section, ‘El Chapo’ refers to Emma Coronel by code name: ‘You know who has the papers for that place. Please send it to the twins. The mother of the twins will say something to you and my children. Be alert compadre. She will explain to you … The twins’ mother will bring them a message for everyone to see in personAccording to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States (US), “the mother of the twins” is Emma Coronel.

The arrest of Joaquín Guzmán Loera’s wife has also continued the story of Dámaso López “El Licenciado” who betrayed his compadre “El Chapo”. Some of the evidence that led Emma Coronel to US justice is Dámaso’s statements where he accuses her of participating in planning the 2015 escape of the former Sinaloa Cartel leader. He accuses her of organizing a second escape on the basis of bribes after the drug trafficker’s recapture in 2016, but it was not achieved until he was extradited to the United States.

The story of Dámaso’s betrayal of Guzmán Loera began after he noted that there would remain a void at the head of the cartel he led, “El Chapo” addressed a letter to Dámaso López, known as “El Licenciado”, asking him to take care of his children: Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán and Ovidio Guzmán López, known as “Los Chapitos”

“There I entrust you to walk in agreement for all of you and my four children, set counters across the state and let the boys and widows get paid there and what is left each month is half for you and half for them celebrating “, were the words of Guzmán Loéra to “El Licenciado”.

Dámaso López became a trusted colleague for “El Chapo” when he reportedly left in 2001 helped the well-known drug dealer get out of the Puente Grande prison. Dámaso López had held the position of deputy director of the prison until a few months before Guzmán Loera first escaped, and is accused of leading the chain of corrupt officials who sent the kingpin to freedom in a laundry cart.

With the years, Dámaso López discreetly gathered power within the Sinaloa Cartel. There were no known images of “El Licenciado”, nor was he mentioned in any significant way in the media. As part of the criminal organization, according to the book The Lords of the Narco from Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández, Dámaso expanded his network of corrupt politicians and negotiated drug trafficking in the United States, Central America and South America. It even had its own armed group called Dámaso Special Forces.

The accumulation of power by the drug trafficker gave him the opportunity to challenge “Los Chapitos” in the dispute over the leadership of the Sinaloa cartel following the arrest of Guzmán Loera. So that, In an act of treason, Dámaso López ignored the letter his compadre had sent him.

The second letter marking the history of the power conflict within the Sinaloa Cartel was the one that, as confirmed by Joaquín Guzmán Loera’s lawyer for Radio Fórmula, wrote “Los Chapitos” after Jesús Alfredo Guzmán and Iván Archivaldo Guzmán were kidnapped by elements of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG), at a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta.

About 50 armed men arrived at the restaurant where Iván Archivaldo celebrated his birthday. They were outnumbered and surpassed the escorts of “Los Chapitos” and they subdued the sons of Guzmán Lura. However, that night their lives were spared and they were released.

Regarding the latter, Iván Archivaldo stated for the Belgian weekly Knack “The only lesson I learned from this is that I cannot trust anyone, not even my own shadow. Fortunately, the people who kidnapped me spared my life. This is the only reason I am still with my family and friends. “

The letter in which both brothers described what happened on the night of August 15, 2016, when they were kidnapped, was circulated through the media. The handwritten text indicated an alliance between “El Licenciado” and the CJNG, until now led by Nemesio Oseguera “El Mencho”.

The dispute lasted until Dámaso López was arrested in May 2017after a hacker working for him turned him over to the authorities. The drug trafficker, feared for the life of his son, known by the nickname “Mini Lic”, sent the third letter telling the story of the leadership dispute that began in 2016.

Afraid of losing her son at the hands of “Los Chapitos”, Dámaso López spoke to his son to ask him to surrender to the DEA, according to the weekly. Rio Doce El Licenciado hoped to negotiate a deal with the US authorities that would benefit both he and his son, in exchange for more information about Joaquín Guzmán Loera and his criminal organization.

According to unofficial sources from the weekly newspaper to which Javier Valdez belonged (a journalist who, according to some versions, was murdered by order of Dámaso López), “El Licenciado” could testify in the New York trial against García Luna.

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