US arrests 'El Chapo' wife on drug trafficking charges

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - US authorities on Monday arrested the wife of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, the leader of a Mexican drug organization known as the Sinaloa Cartel, in Virginia, said the Justice Department.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, was arrested at Dulles International Airport "on charges related to her alleged involvement in international drug trafficking," said the department in a statement.

The dual US-Mexican citizen is scheduled to make her initial appearance in federal court Tuesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia via video conference.

"According to court documents, Aispuro is charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the US," said the statement.

She is also accused of having "conspired with others to assist Guzman in his July 11, 2015 escape from Altiplano prison, located in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico.”

"After Guzman was re-arrested in Mexico in January 2016, Coronel Aispuro is alleged to have engaged in planning yet another prison escape with others prior to Guzman’s extradition to the US in January 2017," said the statement.

The drug kingpin was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of New York in 2019 for his role as a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

"Coronel Aispuro is charged in a one count criminal complaint with a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, five kilograms or more of cocaine, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and 500 grams or more of methamphetamines for unlawful importation into the US," the statement added.