Cristel Yariella Gómez Espinoza, better known as Reina del Sur, has been detained by authorities and will be serving three months of pretrial detention. She is being investigated for international drug trafficking and capital legitimization.
It is said that she started her narco empire at just 19 years old. She’s originally from La Cuesta de Corredores, a town near the border with Panama. Judicial authorities began registering her name in 2014. She faced a criminal case for illegal carrying of weapons and continued in the criminal world. She was captured with two men suspected of transporting 15 kilos of 82% pure heroin and since then has been known as the Queen of the South. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison but this was appealed and acquitted in 2017.
Authorities believe her to have been the main supplier of cocaine to El Gringo, killed by his enemies in 2017. After his death, his group was dismantled and Gómez became a wanted fugitive.
The girl was detained in a clothing store in Palmar Norte de Osa and identified by her tattoos. It was on Wednesday afternoon that the Criminal Court of the First Judicial Circuit of San José sentenced her to preventive detention. The Minister of Security believes that with her detained we should see a decline in crime in the southern zone.
