El Chapo's American daughter claims he visited the US while on the run

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán secretly entered the United States twice last year, despite being one of the most-wanted fugitives in the world, according to the Mexican drug kingpin's American daughter.

In an interview with the Guardian published Friday, Rosa Isela Guzmán Ortiz said El Chapo crossed the Mexican border into California twice in late 2015 after his notorious escape from a maximum-security Mexican prison in July.

El Chapo used the opportunities to see relatives and visit his daughter in the five-bedroom home he bought for her and her four children, she said. Guzmán Ortiz did not reveal the house's location to The Guardian.

She also declined to elaborate on how El Chapo managed to evade border patrol.

"I asked him the same, believe me," she said.

Jacqueline Wasiluk, a spokeswoman for US Customs and Border Protection, said her agency has "no information that substantiates the claims in news reports" about El Chapo, according to the Washington Post.

Multiple news outlets have suggested the possibility of El Chapo using his Sinaloa cartel's elaborate system of drug-smuggling tunnels to slip past the border.

El Chapo was recaptured in January after a firefight with Mexican marines and is being held at the same prison he escaped from last year. He is facing numerous drug-trafficking and homicide charges in Mexico, and has been indicted in seven US states.

The identity of Guzmán Ortiz, 39, was independently verified by the Guardian.

Her claims about her father "are likely to be vigorously contested by Mexican and U.S. authorities," the Guardian wrote.

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