Former Partner of 'El Chapo' Guzmán Opens Up About Relationship With Sinaloa Cartel Leader

It has been nearly 10 years since Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison for his role as a co-founder and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Despite being confined in a cell inside the maximum-security ADX Florence prison, his name continues to make headlines.

Earlier this month, El Chapo again became a major topic in Mexican media after sending letters to U.S. prosecutors asking them to reconsider his case and transfer him back to Mexico. In the letters, he claimed prosecutors blamed him for crimes he did not commit while shifting the blame towards Mexican officials.

Renewed attention surrounding El Chapo has also brought several figures from his personal life back into the spotlight, particularly the women with whom he spent time during his years leading the Sinaloa Cartel.

In a recent interview with Mexican journalist Adela Micha, Lucero Guadalupe Sánchez López, a former local lawmaker in Sinaloa and former romantic partner of Guzmán, recounted some of the experiences she endured during her relationship with one of Mexico's most notorious drug traffickers.

"I lived through many difficult things alongside Joaquín," Sánchez said during the interview. "I fell into Stockholm syndrome and stayed with him."

Sánchez said she met Guzmán when she was just 20 years old and working as a stylist. According to her account, she was hired by a cartel member to provide services in a community within the so-called Golden Triangle, the mountainous region historically used by drug cartels to cultivate narcotics.

She said she spent several weeks effectively isolated in the community of El Carrizo de la Petaca, in the state of Durango, before being allowed to return to Culiacán in a vehicle provided by Guzmán himself. After months without contact, Sánchez said they reunited in Culiacán and later moved together to Baja California.

During the interview, Sánchez said her relationship with El Chapo eventually ended after she discovered hidden microphones and cameras inside the vehicle Guzmán had given her.

"Why did he have to monitor me?" Sánchez recalled thinking. "I was the person who had done the most for him. I showed him he had no reason to doubt me."

After discovering the devices, Sánchez said she confronted Guzmán at the home they shared, where he allegedly beat her.

"He had conflicts with his other women, and those conflicts ended up falling on me," she said. "He was distrustful, and it caused me enormous stress."

Sánchez said she never saw El Chapo again after that incident until she later became involved in his criminal trial. She said she voluntarily surrendered to U.S. authorities and ultimately testified as a cooperating witness. Sánchez has lived in the United States for the past nine years after serving as a local deputy in Sinaloa from 2014 to 2016.

One of the most dramatic episodes Sánchez described during the interview was an escape attempt she said took place in February 2014. According to her account, she and Guzmán fled through a hidden tunnel connected to Culiacán's sewer system during a military operation aimed at capturing him.

Guzmán was captured days later in Mazatlán, and Sánchez said attorneys linked to the drug trafficker tricked her into visiting him at the Altiplano prison facility.

After entering the prison using false documents, her image was leaked to the media, sparking a national scandal. Sánchez said she believes she was used as a "smokescreen" by Guzmán's legal team while the cartel leader prepared his infamous prison escape through a tunnel connected to his cell.

Sánchez also addressed the recent letters allegedly sent by El Chapo to prosecutors requesting a review of his case. According to Sánchez, who maintained a romantic relationship with Guzmán for years, the handwriting in the letters does not belong to him.

"He writes in cursive," Sánchez said, arguing she is deeply familiar with his handwriting because they exchanged letters for years.

"I know his handwriting very well. In fact, I still have several letters from him," she said, adding that she believes the documents may have been written by one of Guzmán's attorneys.