A London arrest today has brought a dramatic turn in the case of a businesswoman accused of a chilling crime in Colombia. Zulma Guzman Castro was apprehended on allegations of murdering two young schoolgirls with poisoned chocolate raspberries.

The victims, 14-year-old Ines de Bedout and her 13-year-old friend Emilia Forero, tragically passed away in a Bogota hospital after consuming the tainted fruit on April 3 of last year. Castro, who is 54, became a key figure in an international manhunt after she left Colombia on April 13.

Her whereabouts remained unknown until December 16, when she was discovered in the UK. Rescue workers pulled her from the River Thames near Battersea Bridge in west London, bringing a surprising end to her elusive escape.

Castro, a former star of the Colombian version of Dragons’ Den, is accused of carrying out this act as revenge. The motive is tied to a clandestine affair she allegedly maintained with Ines’s father, Juan de Bedout, which lasted six years and concluded just before the death of his wife.

Following her rescue from the Thames, Castro has been in a psychiatric facility. Today, she was formally arrested in London and is set to face her first extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

An National Crime Agency spokesman told the Mail: ‘Zulma Guzman Castro, aged 54, has today been arrested by officers from the NCA’s National Extradition Unit. Castro, who is wanted by the Colombian authorities in relation to murder and attempted murder, was arrested in the W10 area of London. 

‘She is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court this afternoon (6 January 2026).’

Last month, it emerged that Castro had reportedly given her location away after drinking Buxton water during a TV interview. The alleged double killer was spotted drinking from the British water brand during an interview with Colombian TV, where she broke her silence to deny the allegations.

Zulma Guzman Castro is accused of killing Ines de Bedout, 14, and her close friend, Emilia Forero, 13, after they died in hospital days after eating the poisoned sweet treat in Colombia on April 3 

Ines de Bedout (left) and Emilia Forero died days after they were poisoned by the raspberries

A source said: ‘The bottle of water she drank from was Buxton Natural Mineral Water, a product mainly commercialised in the UK.

‘The size of the bottle she was drinking are sold in street shops, which would indicate Guzman is in an apartment or house and not in a hotel.’

Prior to her arrest, Castro had been held at a secure unit in west London after she was rescued from the Thames, The Sun reports. She has been under psychiatric observation since she was sectioned, but doctors have now discharged her.

She was then arrested at the hospital this morning before being taken to Islington Police Station and then onto court. 

An Interpol Red Notice to find Castro was issued last month, with authorities warning the fugitive had visited Brazil, Spain and the UK since leaving Colombia. 

It’s understood Castro came to Britain on November 11 and the National Crime Agency were actively hunting for her.

She said in a message while on the run: ‘I find myself in the middle of a very serious situation…where I’m being accused of having been the person who sent a poison that killed two girls.

‘They accuse me of having fled to Argentina, and then to Brazil, Spain and the UK. Those who know me know I haven’t fled anywhere. They know I’ve been working in Argentina and began a masters in journalism here.

‘I went to Spain more than a month ago, with a stopover in Brazil, and then to the UK because of my son.

‘I imagine they’re accusing me because I had a secret relationship with the father of one of the girls.’

Castro denies the killings and claimed in an interview: ‘I was Juan de Bedout’s lover for so many years, and I think I’m practically very easy to implicate in that.’ 

Colombian media report that police are also investigating whether Castro was involved in the death of Mr de Bedout’s late wife, who doctors believe was poisoned with thallium twice before she died of cancer in August 2021.

The former Colombian Dragons’ Den star had a relationship with Ines’s father, Juan de Bedout (pictured), between 2014 and 2020

Zulma Guzman Castro drinks from a bottle of Buxton mineral water during an interview, which may have given away her location in the UK

In December, an agonising social media post was published by Emilia’s devastated father Pedro Forero. 

Pedro, speaking shortly before it emerged Colombian prosecutors had a suspect for the horror crime, said: ‘Fourteen years ago, a life of hopes, joys and dreams began; a life that filled a family, a father and a mother. 

‘But it wasn’t just the joy of someone else’s life; it was the beginning of the life of an excellent human being who had dreams, hopes and goals.

‘As a father, it is incomprehensible to think that someone was capable of taking this away.

‘She did not just take away my dreams, my desires and my prospects in life as a father; she did not just take away my opportunity to be a father-in-law, grandfather and everything else one can be as a parent. 

‘She took away my daughter’s opportunity to be a girlfriend, a professional, a wife, a mother and a daughter.’

The girls were reportedly spending time at a swanky apartment in Bogota, Colombia, with an older brother and another friend after school when they ate the fatal desert, said to have been laced with the highly dangerous poison.

The colourless, odourless and tasteless substance is commonly used in the manufacturing of electronics, optical lenses, semiconductors, alloys and radiation detection equipment.

It was allegedly injected directly into the raspberries before being sent to the girls on April 3 this year. Ines and Emilia are reported to have died four days later, according to Colombian media.