Indiana beauty queen Glenis Zapata has been indicted in Chicago, linked to a major drug cartel. The 34-year-old, who was crowned Miss Indiana Latina in 2011, is now facing serious trafficking charges. A federal grand jury in Chicago named her in an indictment, accusing her of transporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds.
Zapata, recently employed as a flight attendant, allegedly facilitated the movement of cartel cash onboard jetliners into Mexico. This included a private jet, reported by the ABC7 I-Team in 2022, which landed at Gary, Indiana airport from Mexico with 20 pounds of cocaine packed in suitcases. Cartel operatives on the jet have already been prosecuted and imprisoned.
The new indictment also charges Zapata's sister, 33-year-old Ilenis, a bank employee from Lafayette, Indiana, who allegedly helped launder drug proceeds by exchanging low-denomination bills for higher ones. Another bank employee, 39-year-old Georgian Banuelos, faces similar charges.
Authorities identify the kingpin of the drug trafficking operation as 41-year-old fugitive Oswaldo Espinosa, known as "Scrambler." From 2018 to 2023, Espinosa allegedly transported cocaine from Mexico to Chicago and other cities, using warehouses, garages, and stash houses to manage the drugs and cash.
Zapata's arrest marks a dramatic fall from her beauty pageant days in 2011 when she was celebrated as the first Latina pageant winner from Indiana to make the top 10 at the US pageant. Bail reports filed in Chicago federal court indicate that both Zapata sisters are now in custody. A court schedule for the newly accused traffickers has not yet been posted.
Zapata, recently employed as a flight attendant, allegedly facilitated the movement of cartel cash onboard jetliners into Mexico. This included a private jet, reported by the ABC7 I-Team in 2022, which landed at Gary, Indiana airport from Mexico with 20 pounds of cocaine packed in suitcases. Cartel operatives on the jet have already been prosecuted and imprisoned.
The new indictment also charges Zapata's sister, 33-year-old Ilenis, a bank employee from Lafayette, Indiana, who allegedly helped launder drug proceeds by exchanging low-denomination bills for higher ones. Another bank employee, 39-year-old Georgian Banuelos, faces similar charges.
Authorities identify the kingpin of the drug trafficking operation as 41-year-old fugitive Oswaldo Espinosa, known as "Scrambler." From 2018 to 2023, Espinosa allegedly transported cocaine from Mexico to Chicago and other cities, using warehouses, garages, and stash houses to manage the drugs and cash.
Zapata's arrest marks a dramatic fall from her beauty pageant days in 2011 when she was celebrated as the first Latina pageant winner from Indiana to make the top 10 at the US pageant. Bail reports filed in Chicago federal court indicate that both Zapata sisters are now in custody. A court schedule for the newly accused traffickers has not yet been posted.
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