The wife of infamous convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was arrested Monday for her alleged role in an international drug trafficking scheme.
Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, was apprehended at Dulles International Airport and is facing charges of 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 country.
She also allegedly conspired with others to help El Chapo in his escape from a Mexican prison in July 2015. In that breakout, Guzman broke free via an entry under the shower in his cell to a milelong lighted tunnel with a motorcycle on rails.
After Guzman was re-arrested in Mexico in January 2016, she was also said to have engaged in planning yet another prison escape, before he was eventually extradited to the U.S. in January 2017.
Mike Vigil, a former DEA agent who worked undercover in Mexico, told DailyMail.com that Coronel was ‘a narco princess’ deeply enmeshed in the world of trafficking.
“She was not a distributor, or a money launderer, or involved in logistics,” said Vigil. “But she did things he ordered her to, like passing messages. So did she participate? Yes.
“But these charges are related to things that she did in the past. It’s not like she’s branching out on her own.”
Read also: Tekashi 6ix9ine Hospitalized After Overdozing On Diet Pills, Caffeine
Coronel Aispuro is scheduled to appear in Washington D.C. federal court Tuesday. She remained in custody, and it was not immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
The former teen beauty queen regularly attended Guzman’s trial, even when testimony cast her in a harsh light. The two, separated in age by more than 30 years, have been together since at least 2007 and share twin daughters, who were born in 2011.