Mexican police have arrested Guadalupe Fernandez Valencia, also known as "La Patrona," the alleged money handler for the infamous drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman Loera, police sources confirmed Tuesday.
Fernandez Valencia, 55, who is on the U.S. most wanted list, was arrested in Culiacan, Sinaloa, the federal police announced in a report.
Fernández Valencia is wanted in the United States for trafficking in cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana and money laundering.
She was added to the U.S. Treasury Department’s kingpin list last November, meaning any assets she holds in the U.S. can be seized and American citizens are prohibited from conducting business with her.
Her brother was another senior member of the Sinaloa Cartel. Manuel Fernández Valencia is in custody in the U.S.
Valencia's arrest was made after lengthy intelligence work as part of the operation to dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal organization led by El Chapo, who was recaptured in January after a jailbreak in July 2015.
According to Mexican police, Fernandez Valencia allegedly oversaw shipments of drugs from Asia, Central and South Americas to Mexico and on to the U.S.
"The U.S. government has tabled an extradition request with Mexico for Guadalupe Fernandez Valencia, for her association in the crimes of distributing cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana illegally into that country, as well as money laundering," read the report.
The woman was also identified as the sister of one of Guzman Loera's associates, Manuel Fernandez Valencia who has been imprisoned in the U.S.
