The US had detained the wife of Mexican drug cartel boss Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman on Monday on charges of helping her husband continue to run his drug trafficking cartel. Guzman is serving a life sentence in the Florence ADMAX prison in Colorado.
Guzman's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro was arrested at Dulles International airport in northern Virginia. Aispuro, a regular attendee at her husband's trial in the Us two years ago has been charged by the US Department of Justice with conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines. The 31-year-old, known for her lavish lifestyle with a penchant for designer outfits is expected to appear in a Washington federal court on Tuesday.
Aispuro's arrest is a high profile capture of a Mexican on drug charges since former Mexican Defence Minister Salvador Cienfuegos was detained in October on charges of drug trafficking.
Aispuro's alleged involvement in her husband's escape from a Mexican prison in 2015 and a second attempted prison break in 2016 were included in an affidavit mentioning her charges. The FBI handled the investigation into Aispuro and not the Drug Enforcement Administration. Aispuro is being charged with relaying messages on behalf of Guzman to facilitate drug trafficking after he was arrested in 2014. Guzman was found guilty on multiple counts of conspiracy in an epic drug trafficking case in 2019 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
According to Tomas Guevara, an investigator in security issues at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Auspiro's arrest might be part of strategy prompt cooperation from Guzman.
Aispuro and Guzman got married in 2007 when Aispuro was an 18-year-old beauty queen. Guzman is more than three decades senior to her.
