The ‘Queen of the Pacific’, nickname of a Mexican imprisoned for drug trafficking, has initiated an administrative procedure against Netflix for alleged illegal use of her image in the series the queen of the south.
Sandra Ávila Beltrán, who spent almost eight years in prison, claims 40% of the royalties paid to the platform that hosts this series that tells the story of a drug trafficker, the television channel told Canal Milenio last week her lawyer Israel Razo . “She directly affects her image,” she added.
His approach also points to the Spanish television network that broadcasts in the United States Telemundo, producer of the series. Sandra Avila Beltrán seized the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI). The procedure before the IMPI precedes a judicial procedure, according to the lawyer. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP on Tuesday the existence of an “administrative procedure”, without further details. Reached by AFP, Netflix declined to comment.
“Always Acquitted”
Sandra Avila Beltrán was arrested on September 28, 2007 in a restaurant in Mexico City along with her partner, Colombian Juan Diego Espinosa Ramírez, alias “el tigre”. He was accused of being in contact with the “Sinaloa cartel” of Chapo Guzmán, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.
Extradited to the United States in 2012, Sandra Ávila Beltrán was sentenced to six years in prison for criminal association. A year later, the American justice annuls this sentence. Sent back to Mexico in 2013, she was sentenced in September 2014 to five years for money laundering. A judge released her in February 2015. “She has always been acquitted in all appeals and in all criminal proceedings” to which she has been subjected, says her lawyer.
The series is inspired by the novel by Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte queen of the south(2002). It tells the story of Teresa Mendoza (Mexican actress Kate del Castillo), “a woman of humble origins” who “over time becomes a drug trafficking legend,” according to Netflix’s summary. Second season won in 2020 the Emmy Award (best television programs) for the best series in a language other than English.
Source: BFM TV
