Emma Coronel maintained her contact with US authorities since 2017

The wife of “El Chapo” had contact with US agents since 2017, according to media

Photo: JOHN TAGGART / EFE

For: EFE 31 February 2021

MEXICO – Emma Coronel, wife of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán arrested this week , had contact with the United States authorities since 2017 , revealed this Saturday a report by the Mexican magazine Proceso that cites anonymous agents .

The journalistic information indicated that for four years had spoken with her officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Although the arrest of Coronel, Mexican-American citizen of 31 years and “influencer” , shook both countries on Monday, US officials assured that it was an agreed act.

“Mrs. Coronel told us about her delivery plans several days before your arrival at Dulles (Virginia) airport. This was notified to the Department of Justice and the prosecutors to prepare what was necessary, “one of the anonymous agents told Proceso.

Colonel, who allegedly helped coordinate the Sinaloa Cartel operation, faces a minimal penalty ten years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment, plus a possible fine of 10 million dollars, if found guilty of the criminal drug trafficking charge against him.

The revelations of her arrest have caused controversy, as documents from Mexican and US authorities showed last Wednesday the failed attempt by Coronel for the last and third escape of her husband, El Chapo, after his arrest in 2016.

In the criminal complaint, the FBI states that Colonel paid $ 2 million to the Mexican official year in charge of the penitentiary system to reverse the transfer of Chapo to the Ciudad Juárez prison from the Altiplano prison, from where the boss had already escaped in 2015.

In addition to the Proceso report, the US portal Vice suggests that the woman would seek to be a protected witness in the United States. United.

“The surrender of Coronel points out the existence of a cooperation agreement in which she could provide information or testimony in exchange for leniency in her own case, ”reported the US media, citing an anonymous federal agent.

However, Coronel’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, has criticized President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for not interceding for her as he did for Salvador Cienfuegos, former head of the Mexican Army detained in the United States. United in October but exonerated in November after Mexico’s claim.

“López Obrador, when will we receive the treatment from Cienfuegos? I’ll be waiting ”, wrote Lichtman on his social networks.

One day after the woman’s arrest, López Obrador, suggested a link with the trial against former Secretary of Security Genaro García Luna, of the opposition National Action Party ( PAN), arrested in December 2019 in the United States for his ties with the Sinaloa Cartel.

of (Felipe) Calderón because of receiving bribes from Mr. Guzmán Loera. Maybe that’s why it’s the arrest, “he said this Tuesday.