Colombian model Yovanna Guzman claims not to have known that her former lover Wilber Varela was one of the country's most powerful drug lords.
She admitted to living with the now-deceased Varela, but claimed that due to her youth and inexperience did not realise that he was a drug dealer until a long way into their relationship, W Radio reports.
Varela was shot in Merida, Venezuela, in January 2008.
Guzman told the radio station that he conquered her with a glamorous lifestyle and that for two years she lived with him in an idyll without knowing what he did for a living.
"When you're so young, at that age you think that life is colored pink, and so there are so many things that people say that you just believe. Obviously I didn't think that he was poor but neither did I imagine that he was such a [high-ranking figure]," the model said.
She said that when she found out what kind of activities Varela was engaged in she tried to stay away, and he accepted her decision.
"I loved him, not for his money, although at the beginning everything was lovely, but with time one sees other things that are much more important - such as the emotional side, and how someone treats you like a human being," Guzman said, admitting that Varela's seduction of her was very romantic.
She denied receiving payment [for speaking about Varela], as she had never appeared in books about the trafficker and had never been advertized as his partner. Rather, Guzman said, she was speaking out so that future generations of models could learn from her mistakes.
She said that after she discovered that Varela was a criminal she didn't care, because she was romantically involved with him and that it was very very difficult to leave him.
