Inside dark minds of ‘cartel queens’ who marry drug lords at 18, plot prison breaks & flaunt golden guns on Instagram
THEY are beautiful, rich... and absolutely ruthless.
Often as fearsome as their male counterparts, the world's cartel queens have been responsible for everything from drug trafficking to robberies and even assassinations.
This week, the wife of notorious drug kingpin 'El Chapo' was released from jail in the US after serving her three-year sentence for helping his criminal empire.
Emma Coronel Aispuro, 34, pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiring to distribute illegal drugs, laundering money and financial dealings with the Sinaloa cartel in November 2021.
While there is no clear-cut criminal blueprint, explains that certain personality traits and other factors can lead a person into the world of crime.
She believes the public is often "more shocked" by female offending because women are seen as "mothers, daughters and sisters, who are meant to be lovely, kind and maternal".
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"But it's the same for women as it is with men, there is a dark side and you can't have the good without the bad," Dannielle told The Sun.
"There are a range of personality types, variants and variables, and environments where people have to fight to survive in the world they are born into.
"For many, it can be a 'do or die' situation and some step up and partake while others just leave."
With this in mind, we take a look at the dangerous and glamourous lives of South American drug queens and try to decode some of the behaviours behind their shocking actions.
Mrs El Chapo
She also admitted one count of money laundering, one count of engaging in transactions with a foreign narcotics trafficker and conspiring to help her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015.
Emma was born into the business as her Mexican-born dad was a drugs trafficker, and it was at one of his parties in 2006 that she met El Chapo, at the age of 17.
He proposed at a beauty pageant notorious as a hunting ground for drugs lords to find their wives.
The pair married on her 18th birthday, when El Chapo - who is serving life in a Colorado prison - was 50.
She was accused of controlling the finances of a gang in the north-eastern state of Ceara.
Her nickname came about because Monteiro spends her "blood money" on lavish trips and a luxury lifestyle.
It wasn't the first time she's been caught by the cops.
In 2014, she was arrested for leading a gang that robbed homes and commercial properties in Ceara's capital, Fortaleza.
Six years later, she was caught doing accounting for a crime gang in Rio de Janeiro and forced to wear an ankle tag, which she broke when she was considered a fugitive.
Dannielle specialises in the 'Dark Triad' personality - psychopathy, machiavellism and narcissism - and says it often leads to criminality.
When asked why a person involved in legal activity would post on social media, she said it could be a sign of "shortsightedness or arrogance".
Dannielle said: "It's interesting for someone to present their life in a way that showcases criminality while also having a public personality.
"Social media is a haven for narcassisstic behaviour. It's a place where everything in a person's life could be a facade.
"For someone to show that off but also be happy to see someone's life as worthless is an interesting duality of personality types."
La Catrina
At just 21 María Guadalupe López Esquivel, nicknamed the Dame of Death, was killed after rising to prominence as the leader of a local cartel.
The young woman is said to have become involved in gang life after falling for a narco known as “M2,” Miguel Fernandez.
She abandoned a middle-class city life to live with him and other criminals in Aguililla, Michoacán, in 2017.
They were part of the El Mencho cartel which was fighting for dominance with El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel.
Maria was shot through the neck during a shoot-out and died from her wounds.
In documents seized in the raid, it suggested that she was involved in kidnapping, extortion and other criminal activities, and had herself commanded cartel assassins.
She also posted regularly on her Instagram, boasting about her lifestyle with the cartel.
A number of things can lead a person to crime, Dannielle explains, including personality, wellbeing or even their family history.
"Generally speaking people have fewer moral and ethical stances and a higher level of psychopathy and narcissism," she said.
"People who run these kinds of criminal businesses don't feel risk the same way normal people do, they have an inflated sense of superiority and think they won't get caught.
"These kinds of people are more likely to be with someone who has similar psychopathic tendencies - ie. not being scared of police or authority or being afraid to take big risks."
La Dona
Luz Irene Fajardo Campos ran an international drug trafficking ring out of Columbia with the help of her two adult sons.
She also went by the aliases “La Comadre” and “La Madrina” - words denoting a big female boss.
But she wasn't born into a life of crime. Instead, she had a fairly idyllic childhood in southern, humid state of Michoacán, western Mexico.
This all changed when she was a teenager and the crime lords moved into the area.
Her introduction into the drug business was selling dope on the street of California which led to her being deported back to Mexico in the 1990s.
From there she embarked on a three-decade career and was said to work closely with El Chapo's sons.
She was sending 30 kilos of cocaine a week to the US - she also hired pilots and bought jets to move her drugs around before being arrested.
Shortly after she was caught, her two sons were killed and their dismembered burnt bodies were left in a vehicle.
It was a stark warning to her to not cooperate with the investigation.
Irene was slapped with a 22-year sentence for her drug crimes and her mental health is said to have rapidly deteriorated behind bars.
Dannielle explains that the environment a person grows up in can change their perception of what is normal.
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"It can seem like normal life, especially if you see everybody else doing the same type of work," she said.
"For most people, when they get away with crimes, they will go on to bigger and bigger things. Especially when there is competition and money can be made from it."