El Chapo Mistress Testifies. His Wife Laughs

Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez says drug lord was naked during tunnel escape
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2019 2:52 AM CST
El Chapo Mistress: 'Until Today, I Thought We Were a Couple'
This undated photo provided by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York shows Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez.   (U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York via AP)

The trial of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman veered into Jerry Springer Show territory Thursday with testimony from Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez, one of the drug lord's former mistresses. When asked what kind of relationship she had with Guzman, she said: "Well, until today, I thought we were a couple. I'm confused," before breaking down in tears. The line brought laughter from Emma Coronel, Guzman's normally impassive wife, Fox reports. USA Today reports that when Coronel, who has attended most days of Guzman's drug trafficking trial in federal court in New York, was asked about the testimony, she said, in English, "I don't speak English."

Sanchez Lopez—a former Sinaloa state lawmaker who is jailed awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to federal drug charges—testified in a blue prison uniform. The 29-year-old said that after becoming Guzman's lover in 2011, he put her in charge of collecting and shipping marijuana, sometimes in packages of 400 kilograms. She said that in 2014, when she was spending the night with the cartel kingpin in a safe house, they ended up fleeing through a sewage tunnel after Mexican marines stormed the building. She said Guzman was naked as they fled and took off running, leaving her and others behind, CBS reports. When asked how long she was in the tunnel, she said: " Long enough to be traumatized." (Earlier this week, the trial heard a shocking bribery allegation.)

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