Mexico City, April 17 The daughter of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, who is serving a life sentence in the US for drug trafficking, has handed out aid boxes with the name and picture of her father to elderly people who are isolated in their homes amid the COVID-19 restrictions.
At least 480 boxes of food and hygiene products have been distributed since April 13 in poor neighbourhoods across Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city, reports Efe news.
The boxes were distributed by workers of the clothing brand El Chapo 701, a company owned by Alejandrina Guzman and with which she has sought to extol the image of her father.
"The intention is to give a little help to the less fortunate people at a difficult time for Mexican society," Julio Campos, president of the company, told Efe on Thursday.
The director said the delivery of the aid was to "tell people not to see us with this theme of organized crime, the figure of Don Joaquin as a drug trafficker".
The boxes were aimed at people over 60 years of age who cannot fend for themselves or who cannot go out to work in order to eat, he said.
Campos said that the funding comes from the foundation created by El Chapo's daughter and from the profits generated by the company through selling clothes, accessories, leather goods and alcoholic beverages.
"We are not doing a bad deed or misusing resources. On the contrary, we are very transparent," he said.
Items such as rice, sugar beans, cookies, various types of soup paste, puree, oil and toilet paper are part of this aid called "Chapo Pantry", and which is delivered in boxes with the Chapo 701 brand logo and a letter signed by Alejandrina.
"It is crucial for our Chapo 701 brand to be able to help all the less fortunate Mexicans; our elderly who have taught us a legacy of respect and traditions," the letter said.
Some elderly people who must go out and sell products on the street have also been given anti-bacterial gel or cloth masks with the image of El Chapo.
El Chapo, the leader of the murderous (and still active) Sinaloa cartel, is serving a life sentence after his conviction last July on charges of drug trafficking, firearms and money laundering.
He had twice escaped from prisons in Mexico before being extradited to the US.
( With inputs from IANS )