Update 02/26/2021 11:42pm:

According to reports, prosecutors are prepared to offer El Chapo's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, and her young daughters a new life under witness protection in exchange for secrets about the Sinaloa Cartel, which her husband presided over. 

Aispuro and her 9-year-old twin daughters would disappear into the witness protection program and wouldn't have to face the potential 40-year prison sentence she's up against now. 

Prosecutors are convinced that Aispuro will take the deal. Legendary DEA agent Mike Vigil said, "Prosecutors will dangle witness protection in front of Emma Coronel. That is without question." 

"Authorities will offer it simply because of the amount of information she can provide against the Sinaloa cartel," said Vigil. "She knows the identities of the upper echelon on the cartel, the drug trafficking routes they use, how they smuggle drugs and how they manufacture drugs," he continued. 

"Crucially, she can provide a lot of information that can lead to US-based indictments against Sinaloa cartel members. And this would not bode for them very well. [...] She also knows which Mexican government officials Chapo Guzman and now the Sinaloa cartel were paying off for protection."

Vigil said later:

"She would have to go through a psychological exam. She would get a brand new identity, passport, driver's license, the works. She would get a script of her new life that she must learn for her fictitious back story. She would be placed in a secret location, helped with a place to live and given a small amount of money before she found work. She would have her twins with her, but it would mean absolutely no contact with other family."


Update 02/23/2021 9:58pm:

El Chapo's 31-year-old wife Emma Coronel Aispuro was recently arrested on drug charges at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Aispuro's mugshot was released on Tuesday.

If convicted on all charges, she faces a 10-year sentence. 


Original 02/22/2021 7:07pm:

The 31-year-old wife of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was arrested on Monday for drug trafficking.

Emma Coronel Aispuro was busted at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on charges of participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana for importation into the United States. The former beauty queen is also accused of assisting El Chapo's escape from prison in 2015.

Prosecutors believe Coronel was aware of El Chapo's role as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and served as a go-between in his drug operation. According to an arrest affidavit, she "relayed messages" on her husband's behalf "in furtherance of drug trafficking activities" while he was hiding from Mexican authorities between 2012 and 2014.

Emma Coronel Aispuro will appear before a Washington, D.C. judge on Tuesday via video conference. She is a dual US-Mexico citizen. She married El Chapo in 2007 and the couple are parents to twin daughters. El Chapo was sentenced to life in prison in July 2019.

Source: New York Post