El Chapo’s Wife, Emma Coronel: Her Fight For The Biggest Mexican Drug Lord

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera has for the last couple of decades been one of the biggest drug lords in Mexico. That said, El Chapo’s wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, has consistently fought to safeguard his rights amid torture reports while behind bars. In February last year, the Mexican drug lord’s wife lamented the treatment her husband was being subjected to while in incarceration at Altiplano prison. The following is an excerpt of a letter she sent to Telemundo outlining his situation.

“I, the current partner of Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman, reveals that Mr. Joaquín Guzmán is in seriously poor health, this because since coming to Cefereso del Altiplano en Almoloya de Juárez (Prison) for over a month now, he has not been able to sleep because of the constant are roll call, seemingly every hour.

“And in the course of coming back from every roll call, the people who guard do not stop talking and making noise and because of this situation, cannot sleep day or night. So, he has encounter high blood pressure, Joaquín had never before, suffered from high blood pressure, or have a family history of this disease. Lawyers have processed several amparos (injunctions) and none have been complied with by the corresponding authorities.

“… I, like any woman, free of charges and with all my rights, am concerned about the health of my husband and father of my daughters, I make public this delicate situation, because Joaquin is suffering.”

This is as reported by Borderland Beat. Delving a bit into the history of their relationship, the two met in 2006 at a party organized by Emma Coronel’s father. And in 2007, Emma and El Chapo tied the knot. She was just 18. Their union was said to have a major business element to it as she was the niece of Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Vilarreal, one of El Chapo’s partners at the time.

What’s more, her father, Ines Coronel Barreras, was a high ranking member of the Mexican drug lord’s Sinaloa Cartel. In 2011, Emma Coronel bore El Chapo two daughters at Antelope Valley Hospital in California. However, his name is not on their birth certificates as he was a fugitive wanted by both the Mexican and American governments.

As the mayhem around El Chapo Guzman unfolded over the years, Emma Coronel, who is a dual citizen, has traveled between America and Mexico to be with her husband. She has, however, never been arrested because of this. In 2014, the Mexican drug lord was captured in a condo in Mazatlan, Mexico, with his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, by his side.

Their two-year-old twin daughters were also in the residence. The operation was meticulously done, with no shots fired. Body-heat and infrared scanners were reportedly used to pinpoint the location of all occupants including El Chapo’s bodyguard. According to a Mexican official who spoke to CNN, “He [El Chapo] had an AK-47 next to the bed. When the Mexican marines entered the condominium, he was still asleep.”

In 2015, El Chapo’s wife Emma Coronel, filed paperwork to bar authorities from carrying out search warrants or arrests against her in a Mexican court. This was after two raids were carried out on some of the couple’s properties in the country. Following El Chapo Guzman’s escape from Altiplano prison in 2015, his wife was reported to be one of the main individuals under surveillance by both the Mexican and American authorities.

In October last year, El Chapo’s wife complained to Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission about the torture El Chapo was being subjected to, including the denial of visits by family members and his lawyers. She also stated that the authorities had gone as far as reducing his conjugal visit sessions from four to two hours. Presently, El Chapo is in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York awaiting trial.

[Featured Image by U.S. law enforcement via AP Images]