Thread: Daughter of Mexican Drug Lord Held

APNewsBreak: Daughter of Mexican Drug Lord Held

By ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press
SAN DIEGO October 16, 2012 (AP)

The daughter of one of the world's most sought-after drug lords has been arrested on suspicion of trying to enter the United States on someone else's passport, U.S. officials said Monday.

Alejandrina Gisselle Guzman Salazar was arrested Friday at San Diego's San Ysidro port of entry and charged with fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents.

Two U.S. officials said Monday that she told authorities her father was Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the arrest publicly.

A woman under that name has been charged in federal court in San Diego. Kelly Thornton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, said she could not confirm that the woman charged was Guzman's daughter.

The complaint said Guzman Salazar attempted to enter the country on foot, presenting a non-immigrant visa contained in a Mexican passport.

The arrest and investigation were being led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the nation's largest border crossing in San Diego.

The Sinaloa cartel, named after the Pacific coast state of the same name, controls trafficking on the border with California and has in recent years successfully battled rivals to expand east and west along the 2,000-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border.

The Los Angeles Times reported last year that Guzman's wife — former beauty queen Emma Coronel — traveled to Southern California and gave birth to twin girls at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, north of Los Angeles. The newspaper said Coronel, then 22, holds U.S. citizenship, which entitles her to travel freely to the U.S. and to use its hospitals.

APNewsBreak: Daughter of Mexican Drug Lord Held - ABC News

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A pregnant woman who identified herself as the daughter of Sinaloa drug cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman, the world's most-wanted drug trafficker, appeared in federal court in Los Angeles on charges that she tried to enter the United States using someone else's passport, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Alejandrina Gisselle Guzman Salazar was arrested last Friday at the port of entry in San Ysidro, California, near San Diego, the newspaper said, citing a high-level U.S. law enforcement official.

"Guzman Salazar allegedly told U.S. customs officers that she was traveling to Los Angeles to give birth," the newspaper said, citing the unidentified official, who is not authorized to speak about the case.

EFE News Briefs for Tuesday, Oct. 16 | Fox News Latino

2 hours ago • Sandra Dibble,Greg Moran
North County Times



SAN DIEGO — It seemed to be a routine border arrest.

A Customs and Border Protection Officer on the afternoon of Oct. 12 quickly saw that the nonimmigrant visa handed to him by a young woman who was seven-months pregnant was fake.

The clumsy attempt to enter the country at the San Ysidro Port of Entry wasn’t noteworthy. What the woman purportedly said after her arrest was.

She reportedly told officers that she was the daughter of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel and one of the most wanted criminals in the world. She said she was trying to get to Los Angeles, where she planned to give birth.

On Thursday the woman, Alejandrina Gisselle Guzmán Salazar, appears in federal court in San Diego for a hearing on whether she should be granted bail.

Little is known about her. Guadalupe Valencia, one of her lawyers, said she is a licensed doctor in Guadalajara and has lived there for some time.

Much of the interest in Salazar’s arrest centers on what she may be able to tell authorities about the man she claims is her father.

“I’m sure if she is who she is believed to be that the government has an interest in debriefing her and finding out what, if anything, she knows,” said Anthony Colombo, a San Diego defense lawyer.

He represented Benjamin Arellano Félix, the leader of the Arellano-Félix cartel that ruled drug trafficking in Baja until they were displaced — by the Sinaloa group. Arellano is now serving a 25-year prison sentence.

More details and perhaps more definitive information could be revealed at the hearing Thursday. Her lawyers, both of whom have represented drug cartel defendants in the past, would not confirm if she is indeed related to Guzmán.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also declined to comment.

Guzmán’s Sinaloa cartel controls much of the drug smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border from its home base in the state of Sinaloa, and is often described as the world’s most powerful drug-trafficking group.

Guzmán has made the Forbes magazine list of most powerful people since 2009, and ranked number 1,153 on its list of billionaires.

Captured in 1993, Guzmán was serving a 20-year sentence for murder and drug trafficking in January 2001 when he escaped from a federal maximum security prison in Guadalajara inside a laundry cart after allegedly paying bribes to prison officials.

While on the run from the U.S. and Mexican governments, Guzmán built up an organization responsible for smuggling Mexican marijuana, as well as massive amounts of Colombian cocaine, to the United States, U.S. officials say. Authorities have linked the Sinaloa cartel to air and maritime shipments, as well as sophisticated drug tunnels on the California border.

“He’s bought off everybody, he’s savvy, he’s clever, he’s got rings of bodyguards,” said George W. Grayson, a professor at the College of William & Mary who has written about Mexico’s drug traffickers. “Chapo is extremely shrewd, he doesn’t go around and shoot off his mouth.”

The U.S. State Department has offered a reward of up to $5 million for his arrest, and the Mexican government is offering 30 million pesos — more than $2.3 million — for his capture. Guzmán has had “kingpin” status in the United States since 2001 — a designation that prohibits financial or commercial transactions with a named individual, while any freezing any of his or her assets that are under U.S. jurisdiction.

In recent months, several Guzmán family members also have been named kingpins — including his first and second wives, María Alejandrina Salazar Hernández and Griselda López Pérez, and three sons.

The woman claiming to be Guzmán’s daughter is believed to be the daughter of his first wife. If true, Alejandrina Gisselle Guzmán Salazar would have a father, mother and two brothers with kingpin status.

As for Alejandrina herself, “my sense is that she was not even a bit player,” Grayson said.

Colombo said investigators could ask about a variety of matters, from Chapo Guzmán’s habits and preferences, to his family history. Perhaps more intriguingly, they could explore her financial transactions, which could be able to provide more information about the drug lord’s money flows.

But whatever information investigators could get is contingent on one thing: that Alejandrina knows anything at all about Chapo Guzmán’s business.

She may not have had much contact with her father in many years, Colombo said. That lack of contact might explain why she attempted to cross with obviously fake documents. Someone closely connected to a powerful cartel leader would presumably have a more foolproof and easier way of entering the country.

Is border arrestee drug lord's daughter?

Published October 26, 2012

Associated Press

A woman described by U.S. officials as a daughter of Mexico's most-wanted drug lord pleaded not guilty Thursday to an immigration charge during a brief hearing in San Diego that made no mention of her family background.

Alejandrina Gisselle Guzmán Salazar, 31, looked straight ahead and spoke quietly as she entered her plea and waived her right to seek bail.

Three U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an investigation that has not been made public have said Guzmán Salazar identified herself to border inspectors as a daughter of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, head of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

Guzmán Salazar is charged with document fraud, making false statements to federal officials and identity theft. She allegedly tried to enter the United States on Oct. 12 at San Diego's San Ysidro port of entry with someone else's Mexican passport and a U.S. visa.

Guzmán Salazar told authorities she intended to go to Los Angeles to give birth to her child, according to the complaint. One U.S. official said she told authorities she was six months pregnant.

Wearing a loose-fitting jail blouse, she showed no obvious signs of pregnancy during her court appearance. She did not turn to the audience even once, leaving the packed courtroom to see only her curly-haired ponytail that ran down her back.

Guzmán Salazar hired a new attorney, Frank Morell, who did not immediately respond to a phone message after the hearing. No explanation for the attorney change was given in court.

Her previous attorneys, Jan Ronis and Guadalupe Valencia, have represented clients linked to organized crime. Ronis' clients have included Benjamin Arellano Felix, who was head of the Tijuana-based cartel that bore his family name.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jan Alder scheduled a pretrial hearing for Nov. 30.

The Sinaloa cartel, named after the Pacific coast state of the same name, controls trafficking along much of the U.S. border with Mexico, particularly in Western states.

Guzmán Salazar's mother is Maria Alejandrina Hernández Salazar, according to one U.S. official. The U.S. Treasury Department described Hernández Salazar as Joaquín Guzmán's wife when it imposed financial sanctions on her in June.

SUMMARY

Guzmán Salazar is charged with document fraud, making false statements to federal officials and identity theft. She allegedly tried to enter the United States on Oct. 12 at San Diego's San Ysidro port of entry with someone else's Mexican passport and a U.S. visa.


Mexican Cartel Chief's Alleged Daughter Enters Plea Deal in U.S. | Fox News Latino

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No anchor baby for her.