Angie Sanclemente Valencia

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Angie Sanclemente Valencia (born May 25, 1979 in Barranquilla ) is a Colombian underwear model , also an actress and former beauty queen . Her arrest and conviction for cocaine smuggling and running a drug cartel caused a stir internationally .

Life

Career

Sanclemente grew up as an only child with her single mother in Barranquilla. The mother worked as a fashion saleswoman and made it possible for her daughter to attend the most prestigious modeling school in the city of La Pasarella . In 1998 she married a businessman. The marriage broke up just three months later. A childhood friend said the reason for the separation was that Sanclemente spent the money her husband thought for the tuition fees on cosmetic surgery. After three semesters, she was de-registered due to non-payment of tuition fees and dropped out of her journalism studies. Sanclemente then took part in various beauty contests. Here she stood out for her aggressive ambition when she attacked jury members after failing to reach the final of a competition.

In 2000 she took part in the prestigious Reinado Internacional del Café (Coffee Queen) competition and won. Just three days later, the title was withdrawn because she had kept her short marriage a secret. Only “virgin” women are allowed to participate. Her victory made drug traffickers aware of her. Drug bosses go to beauty pageants to look for women. Sometimes they also support the candidates, pay for their clothes, the cosmetic surgeries and bribe the judges so that their favorite wins. It was rumored that it was around this time that she began an affair with a Mexican drug lord known only as The Monster . In 2005 Sanclemente left her Colombian homeland and moved to Mexico . Here she took on modeling jobs and small television roles. After separating from Das Monster , Sanclemente is said to have tried harder to create its own drug cartel.

In the meantime she had a relationship with the Argentine Nicolas Gualco, whom she still knew from her native Barranquilla. He too was already involved in drug smuggling. The main task of Sanclemente was to organize smuggling from Colombia and Argentina to Mexico. For this purpose she recruited young, pretty girls from the model scene who were supposed to take over the border crossings for $ 5,000 per delivery. The likelihood that these women will be controlled is much lower. She called the girls working for her her "unsuspecting beautiful angels" who should be "nice but not flashy". In the meantime, both the American DEA and the Colombian and Argentine drug investigators have set up special commissions that specialize solely in the surveillance of models. Her friend took over the smuggling from Mexico to Europe and, according to his own statement, earned $ 14,000 per kilogram smuggled.

Escape

In December 2009, a 21-year-old model was arrested at Buenos Aires airport for trying to fly to Cancun , Mexico with 55 kilograms of cocaine in her luggage . Five other couriers and Sanclementes fiancé Nicolas Gualco were arrested after questioning the young woman. Angie Sanclemente Valencia was also in Argentina at the time, but when her hotel room was stormed by the police, Saclemente was already in hiding. Interpol then wrote her out for a worldwide manhunt and suspected her of being one of the leading figures in the drug cartel.

In the last week of December 2010, CNN received a message via Facebook.

“ I am very sad and hurt because of the misinformation. I don't understand how the press can destroy an innocent person like that. I don't want to go to jail. I do not deserve it. I am innocent. "

She also kept her Facebook page up to date during her escape and gave an interview to the newspaper El Tiempo . Guillermo Tiscornia, one of the lawyers for those wanted, also spoke up. Due to a lack of evidence, he demanded that the search for his client be stopped immediately.

Arrested and convicted for drug smuggling

It was not until five months later that she was arrested in a hostel in Buenos Aires on May 26, 2010. In court, she was charged with leading a drug cartel and smuggling cocaine. Sanclemente pleaded not guilty on all counts. She only came to Argentina to marry her fiancé there. At first, she claimed not to be aware of her boyfriend's criminal activities. In the course of the process, however, she admitted that she made a few calls for Gualco. She only did this out of love and was not involved in drug smuggling herself. The only reason she went into hiding after her boyfriend's arrest was because she was afraid that she would also end up in custody and be raped there because of her beauty. The Venezuelan co-defendant Gustavo Páez Arneses was sentenced to six years and two months before she was arrested. Nicolas Gualco had also been sentenced to six years and eight months in prison and confirmed his fiancée's version. During the negotiations, Sanclemente was transferred to another prison because she was repeatedly attacked by fellow inmates. Again and again she stressed that her only sin was falling in love.

However, the court found her guilt proven and on November 3, 2011 sentenced Angie Sanclemente to six years and eight months in prison for drug smuggling. Sanclementes lawyer German Delgado has announced that it will appeal.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Model, allegedly drug queen, on the lam - CNN.com. In: edition.cnn.com. March 27, 2010, accessed February 12, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Colombian woman convicted of drug smuggling - from underwear model to coke queen. In: sueddeutsche.de . November 3, 2011, accessed February 12, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Lingerie model runs one of the world's largest drug gangs, according to police. In: telegraph.co.uk. February 24, 2010, accessed February 12, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Drug smuggling: Colombian beauty queen protests her innocence. In: Spiegel Online . October 19, 2011, accessed February 12, 2015 .
  5. ↑ a b On the run, the lingerie model who heads an all-women cocaine-smuggling cartel. In: dailymail.co.uk. February 24, 2010, accessed February 12, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Colombian Model Guilty on Argentine Cocaine Charge on ABC News on November 3, 2011 (English)
  7. ↑ a b Sebastian Gehrmann: Models: The beautiful smugglers. In: fr-online.de . March 31, 2010, accessed February 12, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Cocaine smuggling: Colombian beauty queen has to go to jail. In: Spiegel Online . November 3, 2011, accessed February 12, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Argentina convicts drug beauty queen Angie Sanclemente on bbc .com on November 3, 2011 (English)
  10. ↑ Lingerie model allegedly hired beautiful models to smuggle cocaine in USA Today on February 24, 2010 (English).
  11. ^ Former model arrested in Argentina on drug charges on cnn.com on May 26, 2010 (English).
  12. ↑ Angie Sanclemente, modelo colombiana prófuga en Argentina habla desde la clandestinidad in: El Tiempo on May 18, 2010 (Spanish).
  13. ↑ Interpol links lead to Colombian beauty queen arrest in Argentina ( Memento from June 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Press release from Interpol.
  14. ↑ Lingerie Model Convicted of Smuggling Drugs ( Memento from November 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) on Fox News .com on November 3, 2011 (English).
  15. ↑ Colombian underwear model must in custody on Focus .com on November 3 2,011th
  16. ↑ 'Cocaine queen' moved after assaults in prison in New Zealand Herald on May 1, 2011 (English).
  17. ^ Colombian model convicted by Argentine court of smuggling cocaine, sentenced to nearly 7 years in: The Washington Post on November 3, 2011 (English).
  18. ↑ model has behind bars on n-tv .com on November 3 2,011th
personal data
SURNAME Sanclemente Valencia, Angie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Colombian photo model
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH Barranquilla , Atlántico , Colombia