US Officials Detain Former Mexican Congresswoman Linked to Drug Lord El Chapo Ronel Puello - Latin Post
go to original June 23, 2017

El Chapodiputada got caught red handed (Getty Images)

Former Mexican state legislator financially and romantically linked to Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was arrested this week after trying to enter the United States.

Lucero Guadalupe Sánchez was detained by federal law enforcement officials Wednesday as she was attempting to cross the border from Tijuana into San Diego. The U.S. Attorney's office in San Diego said they had conducted several wiretap investigations over 2013-2014 of El Chapo's associates that linked Sanchez to discussions concerning money laundering and the transport of illicit drug profits.

Sanchez was reportedly trying to enter the U.S. on some kind of asylum status, willing to give out information on the cartel to American law enforcement, a statement that is being backed up by her lawyers.

“Neither she nor we had any idea that she was under investigation,” attorney Francisco Verdugo told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “If she had, she wouldn’t have gone there.”

Sanchez, a former state legislator for Sinaloa where El Chapo considers his home operating base, denies that she was ever El Chapo's girlfriend. Signed affidavits attached to Sanchez's arrest warrant have her on tape declaring herself El Chapo's lover and detailed knowledge that only an eyewitness would have of his February 2014 escape from Mexican police via tunnels under his Culiacan, Mexico residence.

In her first court appearance on Thursday, Magistrate Judge Barbara Major ordered Lopez to be held without bail because of her high flight risk. "El Chapodiputada" or the "Chapo Legislator" has been repudiated by her former political party in Mexico and distanced themselves from Lopez, citing a lack of devotion to their cause.

Read the rest at Latin Post

Related: Mexican Drug Lord 'El Chapo' to Sue Netflix Over Video Series (ETtech)

Related: Who Is El Chapo? Joaquin Guzman: The Drug Lord Behind the Netflix Series – Life, Net Worth (Express)

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