MEXICO CITY – Mexican authorities have captured the father-in-law of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the most wanted man in the country, a government official said Tuesday.
The official, who requested anonymity, confirmed the arrest of Inés Coronel, who was identified by the U.S. Treasury Department as a key operative of the Sinaloa drug cartel earlier this year.
The official said more details would be provided at a news conference later Tuesday. Mexican media said Coronel was captured in the northern state of Sonora.
In January, the Treasury blacklisted Coronel and a senior lieutenant of Guzmán, barring any U.S. citizen from conducting business with the pair and freezing any assets they may have in the United States.
Coronel is the father of Guzmán’s third wife, Emma.
Guzmán has been in hiding since escaping from a Mexican maximum security prison in 2001. He had been captured in Guatemala in 1993.
The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Guzmán, a billionaire widely considered to be the world’s wealthiest drug trafficker.
