Lucero Sánchez—better known as “La Chapodiputada” (The Chapo-Congresswoman)—has reappeared with new statements regarding the relationship she maintained with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Her account includes a violent episode that ended in gunfire, her presence during the capo’s escape through a tunnel in Culiacán, and her firm conviction that the letters recently attributed to the drug lord from prison were not written in his own hand.
The former congresswoman from Sinaloa—who served as a witness during Guzmán Loera’s trial in the United States and has resided in that country for nearly nine years—spoke in an interview with journalist Adela Micha for the program *La Saga*.
Lucero Sánchez was 20 years old when, in 2010, an acquaintance working for the cartel hired her as a stylist to provide services in a community within the “Golden Triangle” region called El Carrizo de la Petaca, located in the mountains of Durango. Upon her arrival, no one was there waiting for her services.
Three or four days later, a group of around 50 armed men arrived to get haircuts. Sánchez recounted to Adela Micha that the armed environment seemed normal to her, as she had spent years living in mountainous regions where weapons and crop cultivation were part of the everyday landscape. She emphasized that she did not know who “El Chapo” was, nor did she know what he looked like.
It was in this context that she met Joaquín Guzmán Loera. From their very first encounter, she felt a sense of repulsion—she asserts—but she realized that her refusal would not be respected. She was prevented from leaving under various pretexts: that the road was closed, or that dangerous people were lurking outside. What was supposed to be a three-day stay stretched into weeks.
When she finally managed to leave the mountains, Sánchez arrived in Culiacán in a vehicle Guzmán had given her. She went eight months without any contact with him, until he tracked her down again in the city. It was then that they moved to Baja California to live together.
The definitive break with Joaquín Guzmán came when Sánchez discovered hidden microphones and cameras inside a car that Guzmán had given her as a gift. “Why does he have to watch me? I am the one who has done the most for him; I have shown him that he has no reason to distrust me,” she recalled in her conversation with the journalist.
The discovery led her to seek out Guzmán directly. She went to the house they occasionally shared with the intention of confronting him. She carried with her a .25-caliber weapon—one he himself had given her for self-defense. She recounted to Adela Micha that, at that moment, her emotional state was so critical that she was contemplating harming herself, not him.
