Sandra Ávila Beltrán is a Mexican drug cartel member, dubbed “La Reina del Pacífico” (The Queen of the Pacific) by the media. On 28th September 2007, she was arrested and charged with organized crime and conspiracy to drug trafficking. On August 10, 2012, she was extradited to the United States to answer for criminal charges by the U.S. government. She was then deported back to Mexico, where she was immediately arrested on money laundering charges on 20 August 2013 and was sentenced to five more years in prison. She was released in 2015 and now lives in the city of Guadalajara.
What is Sandra Ávila Beltrán Known For?
- Being a Mexican drug cartel member.
- Being the daughter of María Luisa Beltrán Félix and Alfonso Ávila Quintero, a family member of Rafael Caro Quintero, a former leader of the Guadalajara Cartel.
What is Sandra Ávila Beltrán Nationality?
Sandra Ávila Beltrán was born on 16th October 1960 in Baja California, Mexico. She holds Mexican nationality and her ethnicity is Mexican-White. She is the daughter of María Luisa Beltrán Félix and Alfonso Ávila Quintero, a family member of Rafael Caro Quintero, a former leader of the Guadalajara Cartel. Family connections have played a major role in her criminal career, having kinship with the Beltrán-Leyva Brothers, then top heads of the Sinaloa cartel “federation.” She was in fact a “third-generation” drug trafficker in her family. Officials in Mexico say she is the niece of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, the godfather and the boss of bosses of the Mexican drug trade who is now serving a 40-year sentence for his alleged involvement in the 1984 murder of Enrique Camarena, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent. Her great uncle Juan José Quintero Payán was extradited to the United States on drug trafficking charges. On her mother’s side, the Beltráns got involved in heroin smuggling in the 1970s and later diversified into cocaine. DEA officials state that Ávila Beltrán never shrank from employing the violence that comes with the turf and that “she used the typical intimidation tactics of Mexican organizations.” She enrolled in journalism classes as a feisty 17-year-old. But three years into communication studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, a jealous boyfriend kidnapped her. He was a powerful young man closely tied to the cartels. Within months she had left town, ending her hopes of a career as an investigative reporter. Instead, Sandra Ávila entered the drug underworld. Her present age is 61 as of 2021.
Sandra Ávila Beltrán Career Timeline
- In 2002, Sandra unexpectedly contacted authorities for help when her teenage son was kidnapped for a US$5 million ransom. She got her son back, but not without raising suspicions that launched an investigation. It took more than four years and 30 federal agents to close in and finally arrest Ávila. She was arrested, along with Espinoza Ramírez, on 28 September 2007, in Mexico City.
- Later, she was charged with and convicted of laundering money for billions of dollars worth of drugs smuggled from Colombia to Mexico.
- In a tape of her police interrogation, she describes herself as a housewife who earns a little money on the side “selling clothes and renting houses.” When asked why she had been arrested, she responded, “Because of an extradition order to the United States.”
- Her life behind bars at the Santa Martha Acatitla women’s prison in Mexico City has apparently not been to her liking as she filed a complaint with a Mexico City human rights commission, saying her cell had insects, which she referred to as noxious fauna. She also said the ban on bringing in food from restaurants violated her human rights.
- In January 2011 an investigation was launched after a doctor was allowed to enter the prison to give Beltrán a Botox injection treatment.
- All of the drug charges were dropped in early 2011.
- As of February 2015, Sandra is free according to CNN “Now, after more than seven years behind bars, the woman known as “The Queen of the Pacific” is free.
- On 10 August 2012, she was extradited to the United States and flown to Florida to face cocaine possession and trafficking charges.
- She denied the charges and as part of the plea deal said she provided “financial assistance for travel, lodging, and other expenses” to Espinosa from 2002 to 2004.
- Then, she was deported back to Mexico, where she was immediately arrested on money laundering charges on 20 August 2013.
- Due to this, she was sentenced to five more years in prison and a fine.
- She was imprisoned at the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 4 federal prison in Tepic, Nayarit.
- She was released in 2015 and now lives in the city of Guadalajara.
- Since her arrest in 2007, she spent a total of seven years in prison, including two years in isolation.
- In the second season of the TV Series El cartel, Ávila is portrayed by the Mexican actress Patricia Manterola as the character of Andrea Negrette.
- Likewise, Isabella Bautista, a character in the Netflix series Narcos: Mexico portrayed by Teresa Ruiz, is loosely based on Ávila.
- Next two shows based on the novel La reina del sur [es] by Arturo Pérez-Reverte was based on Ávila’s life exist: La Reina del Sur and Queen of the South.
- Los Tucanes de Tijuana wrote a folk ballad that pays homage to Sandra Ávila as “a top lady who is a key part of the business.”Los Tigres del Norte wrote a song called “La Reina del Sur”, based on the story of Teresa Mendoza, the fictional drug lord in La Reina del Sur by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.
- Apart from this, she also published a book, The Queen of the Pacific: Time to Talk, based on a series of prison interviews she gave to Mexican journalist Julio Scherer.
- Arturo Pérez-Reverte, author of the book La Reina del Sur (2002), stated that the story of his heroine Teresa Mendoza is partly based on Sandra Ávila Beltrán’s life.
Who is Sandra Ávila Beltrán married to?
Regarding her personal life, Sandra Ávila Beltrán reportedly had affairs with several well-known drug barons in her youth. She was married twice; both of her husbands were ex-police commanders who became drug traffickers and both were later killed by hired assassins. The police attribute her rise to power in the drug world primarily to her most recent relationship with Juan Diego Espinoza Ramírez, alias The Tiger, who is said to be an important figure in the Colombian Norte del Valle Cartel. She lived in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and Hermosillo, Sonora until the police found more than 9 tons of cocaine on a ship in the Pacific port of Manzanillo, Colima in 2001 and tracked the shipment to her and her lover Espinoza Ramírez. She is also a mother to her son. For her son’s 15th birthday, she gave him a Hummer and, later, a $40,000 allowance every few months. From her neck hung a gold pendant in the form of Tutankhamun with 83 rubies, 228 diamonds, and 189 sapphires. At present, she is assumed to be living a single life happily. Her sexual orientaiton is straight.
How much is Sandra Ávila Beltrán Net Worth?
Sandra Ávila Beltrán is a drug cartel member whose net worth is estimated to have between in the range of $1 Million-$5 Million as of 2022. She is making her salary in thousands of dollars. At the height of her career, she showed a propensity to carry suitcases with millions of dollars in crisp $100 bills. Released in February 2015, she has been slowly recovering her contacts and composure. Her fortune is mostly buried, and she and a bevy of lawyers are now furiously fighting to recoup approximately 15 homes, 30 sports cars, and an estimated 300 jewels. “Camaros, Trans-Am, Mercedes, Audi, I had them all,” she said, remembering her favorite, a Bentley. Today, she is living a cool and comfortable lifestyle.
How tall is Sandra Ávila Beltrán?
Sandra Ávila Beltrán is a beautiful woman with the perfect height matching her body weight. She has an average body type. Her eye color is brown and her hair color is brown. She has got a healthy body at present. She has a charming smile with a glowing face.
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