Marllory Chacon Rossell, a Guatemalan woman in charge of one of the most widely spread drug trafficking and money laundering rings in Central America, has been sentenced in secret in the United States.

Talking about the drug leader before her sentencing, Adam J. Szubin. the director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, stated: “Marllory Chacon’s drug trafficking activities, and her ties to the Mexican drug cartels, make her a critical figure in the narcotics trade.”

According to a U.S. Treasury statement, he said: “By designating Chacon, OFAC is disrupting those activities and closing off from the United States financial system the network of companies aiding Chacon’s illicit activities.”

Rossell, who has been called “the Queen of the South” by the Guatemalan press, is thought to have been responsible for regularly transporting thousands of pounds of cocaine from Guatemala into the United States, as well as laundering massive amounts of money.

Based in Guatemala but operating in Honduras as well as Panama, Rossell's organization was known to supply cocaine shipments to Mexican drug enterprises such as Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel.

In 2014 she surrendered to U.S. authorities and, as reported by the BBC, is now aiding the government with vital information regarding trafficking. In exchange for her help, the judge in her case has agreed to keep her sentence and release date under seal for five years.

Last December prosecutors recommended that Rossell should serve less than a 10-year sentence in return for her guilty plea.

The U.S. Treasury Department described Rossell as "one of the most prolific narcotics traffickers in Central America."

Although it is not uncommon for Latin American drug organizations to use the services of women, it is rare for a Latin American narcotics supplier to actually be led by one.