Behind every powerful man there is a powerful woman.
This is no different for drug lord El Chapo Guzman.
Like him, his wife did some insanely crazy things.
At one point she may have even been giving the orders within the Sinaloa Cartel.
Who was El Chapo’s wife?
Let’s find out.
Emma Coronel Aispuro is the current wife of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and her story
is one of power, deceit, and tragedy.
In February of 2021 she was arrested the moment she stepped off a plane at Dulles International
Airport in Washington D.C.
But how did Coronel get caught up in all of this?
And did she even have a choice when El Chapo propositioned her for marriage?
Coronel was born in the U.S. and currently holds dual citizenship in the United States
and Mexico.
Her mother was Blanca Estela Aispuro who gave birth to Coronel near San Francisco, California.
Her father was a cattle rancher who would eventually get caught up in the Sinaloa Cartel.
Soon after her birth the family moved to a small town called La Angostura in the Mexican
state of Guanajuato.
As you can imagine, the story of how Coronel met her future husband is a little shady.
While in the United States her father seemed to have no connection to drugs or the cartel,
but once the family returned to Mexico, things changed.
Coronel’s father, Ines Coronel Barrera began working for El Chapo and became a feared drug
lord in the region.
It is also likely that her brother got caught up in the cartel and worked as a pilot.
It was all but inevitable that Coronel’s and El Chapo’s paths would eventually cross.
However, this happened sooner rather than later.
When Coronel was 17 years old she entered the Coffee and Guava Festival beauty pageant
in Canelas, Durango, Mexico.
As one of the requirements for the competition each contestant had to host a party.
Coronel’s party was held on Three Kings Day; and as you’ve probably guessed by now
there was a special guest in attendance.
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán came to the party, and for him it was love at first sight.
We may never know if Coronel felt the same way, but when one of the most powerful drug
lords of all time asks you to marry him, you don’t have much of an option but to say
yes.
It is said that on the very first day El Chapo met Coronel he asked her for her hand in marriage.
The fact that he was over 30 years older than she was didn’t make much of a difference.
The two were soon married.
Not much is known of the wedding as at that point in time El Chapo was wanted by both
Mexican and United States authorities for trafficking massive amounts of cocaine, heroin,
methamphetamines and marijuana across the border.
So, the celebration had to happen in secret.
Based on what we know of Coronel and El Chapo the wedding itself was probably extravagant
and filled with drugs.
Even if Coronel didn’t want to marry El Chapo she had no choice.
First of all because no one could say no to the most deadly drug lord in Mexico, but also
because the marriage may have been a way for Coronel’s father to advance his position
in the Sinaloa Cartel.
Therefore, Coronel probably had pressure to marry El Chapo coming from all sides.
El Chapo and Coronel were married for several years before having children.
During this time Coronel learned the inner workings of the cartel and actually played
a role in several aspects of the illegal organization.
Coronel gave birth to twin girls Emali Guadalupe and Maria Joaquina in 2011.
She gave birth in Lancaster, California most likely so that her daughters would have dual
citizenship between Mexico and the U.S.
For obvious reasons the father’s name was left off of the birth certificates even though
it was well known who he was.
And although Coronel was not El Chapo’s first wife it seems that she will be his last.
El Chapo is currently serving a life sentence at ADX Florence in Colorado.
Emma Coronel Aispuro has been the wife of El Chapo for just under 15 years now and during
that time she did some crazy things.
Several of which would land her in jail later on.
Coronel is known as “La Reinita,” or “Little Queen,” to others in the cartel; a name
given to her because of her beauty pageant days.
From 2012 to 2014 Coronel carried messages from El Chapo to different members in the
Sinaloa Cartel while he was hiding from Mexican authorities.
But this most likely was not the first time she played a major role in the cartel’s
drug trafficking.
She held a lot of power in the organization as the wife of the boss.
But after El Chapo was captured and put in prison things got even crazier.
When her husband was arrested for a second time and put in the maximum security prison
of Altiplano in Mexico, Coronel helped orchestrate his escape.
She is reported to have helped negotiate the buying of land around the prison, which would
later be used to dig an underground tunnel into El Chapo’s cell.
The tunnel went from a house on the outskirts of the prison to the cell in which the drug
lord was being held.
El Chapo climbed into the tunnel through a hole made in the shower of his cell where
he escaped by riding a motorcycle through the underground tunnel.
Also while El Chapo was in jail Coronel most likely carried messages from the drug lord
to cartel members whenever she had contact with her husband.
But it was after El Chapo was arrested for a third time that Coronel took care of things
more directly.
From documents obtained by authorities it was found that Coronel paid 2 million dollars
in bribes to prison officials to have El Chapo transferred back to Altiplano prison where
he had escaped from the year before.
Unfortunately for both Coronel and El Chapo the plan did not come to fruition.
There was no way the United States was going to let El Chapo get away again and quickly
had him extradited to stand trial in the U.S. for his crimes.
But where El Chapo goes his wife is not far behind.
Coronel and her daughters flew to New York so that she could support her husband in the
courtroom during his trial.
At this point you may be wondering if it was a happy marriage between Emma Coronel Aispuro
and drug lord El Chapo Guzman.
But deep down you probably know it wasn’t.
El Chapo lived a life of luxury and debauchery.
It is no secret that he threw massive parties with drugs and prostitutes.
He was not faithful to any of his wives and this includes Coronel.
In fact, one of the key witnesses in the case against El Chapo was a mistress he was having
an affair with while married to Coronel.
Apparently El Chapo had been having an affair with Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez for many
years.
When she was arrested by the feds and offered protection, Lopez testified against her lover
in court.
She was arrested in 2017 on drug charges near the U.S.-Mexico border and was facing a decade
long prison sentence.
Lopez decided to make a plea deal to shorten her time.
She testified in the courtroom with El Chapo and Coronel staring at her in matching velvet
smoking jackets.
As would be expected El Chapo’s mistress was nervous and probably very fearful she
would not make it out of the trial alive.
During the trial while she gave her testimony Guzman seemed impatient and kept looking at
the clock on the wall as if waiting for something.
But whatever it was never came.
El Chapo was sentenced and sent to ADX Florence to live out the rest of his life in solitary
confinement.
However, even after her husband was shipped off, Coronel didn’t seem to slow down.
She was constantly out to dinner wearing expensive name brand outfits.
She even planned on launching a clothing line called “El Chapo Guzman,” which never
came to fruition.
In Mexico Coronel was often seen as a fashion icon, and one of El Chapo’s daughters from
a previous marriage has even entered the fashion world by using her father’s name.
Then in 2021 things got really bad for Emma Coronel Aispuro.
She stepped off a plane at Dulles International Airport on February 22nd and what she found
waiting for her was a shock.
Federal agents immediately arrested her for conspiracy to unlawfully import and distribute
illegal drugs.
She was also charged with aiding her husband with his escape from Altiplano prison in 2015
and trying to orchestrate his escape through bribery in 2016.
However, this is where things get a little shady, and there may be a surprising ending
to this story.
It has been suggested that Coronel knew she was about to be arrested and that she willingly
gave herself up to get a plea bargain.
It is obvious that Coronel could not publicly condemn her husband and provide evidence to
the U.S. of what he had done during their time together.
If she did, she would have been killed almost immediately by the cartel.
So, although it seems as if Coronel was faithful to the very end, this may have been a facade
so that she wouldn’t be assassinated.
Coronel waived her right to a preliminary hearing and pleaded guilty to federal drug
trafficking charges.
She is being held without bail at William Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Alexandria,
Virginia.
Coronel is in solitary confinement in a tiny cell with only slats for windows.
Her lawyer says that she reads romantic novels to pass the time until either she is sentenced,
or reaches a plea deal.
Emma Coronel Aispuro plead guilty to the drug-trafficking charges.
However, Coronel has a few tricks up her sleeve.
During her trial Coronel’s lawyer made it clear that her daughters needed a mother,
and that the court should take family into consideration when sentencing her.
But it may be the information and knowledge of the Sinaloa Cartel that she holds which
will help Coronel shorten her prison time.
Her lawyer made it very clear that just because Coronel plead guilty does not mean she is
cooperating with authorities.
Again, the main reason for this is because she would be killed by the cartel if this
was ever the case.
Recently released court papers say that the prosecution will seek a 15 year prison sentence
for the drug lord's wife.
Regardless of what the future holds for Coronel one thing is clear: being the wife of El Chapo
is a dangerous job.
She got to live a lavish lifestyle, and may have held immense power in the Sinaloa Drug
cartel, but it came at a price.
Emma Coronel Aispuro now sits alone in solitary confinement waiting for her final sentencing.
Maybe she’ll remain silent and live out the rest of her years in prison without giving
up information on her husband and other members of the cartel.
Or maybe she will disappear into protective custody and provide the feds with the information
they need, only time will tell.
Now check out “This is What El Chapo's Prison Cell is Really Like.”
Or check out “Insane Way El Chapo Escaped Prison.”