Emma Coronel, Joaquin’s wife ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán Loera, former leader of Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested this Monday in Virginia on charges related to her alleged participation in the international drug trade, the Justice Department said in a statement.
According to court documents, Guzmán’s wife is accused of participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for import into the United States. In particular, the woman of the former Sinaloa Cartel is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more heroin, five kilograms or more cocaine, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in the US.
Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid was responsible for making the announcement. Coronel is expected to appear for the first time in the District of Columbia Court on Tuesday via video conference.
The indictment also alleges that Coronel conspired with others to aid Guzmán in his escape from the Altiplano prison on July 11, 2015, located in Almoloya de Juárez, Mexico.
After ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán was arrested again in Mexico in January 2016, Coronel is said to have been involved in planning another escape prior to the kingpin’s extradition to the United States in January 2017.
For at least 10 years, the federal government has had ‘El Chapo’s wife on its radar. In fact, during the trial of the capo in a federal court in Brooklyn, private reports were revealed that she was apparently involved in the Sinaloa cartel’s cases.
It is not the first time that it has been said that a conspiracy investigation was intended to facilitate her husband’s escape from the Altiplano in 2015. In 2019, several media outlets in the US reported that even Coronel also caught the eye of the government for allegedly spending large amounts of drug money to maintain their luxurious lifestyle.
Even during the trial of ‘El Chapo’, an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) presented the jury text messages suggested by Emma Coronel Aispuro knew about and in some way participated in her husband’s criminal activities.
Through text messages the FBI received by infiltrating the Sinaloa Cartel’s communications, the agency found that Coronel Aispuro was warning ‘El Chapo’ about the military presence in his area, asking about his lieutenants, he had a firearm in his hand. In order to protect herself from her husband’s enemies, she heard about an escape attempt by the gangster and also worked together so that her daughters became the owners of a luxury home.
