A fugitive businesswoman, accused of murdering two Colombian schoolgirls with poisoned chocolate-covered raspberries, inadvertently revealed her London location by drinking a bottle of Buxton water during a weekend interview.

Zulma Guzman Castro, aged 54, was found and rescued from the River Thames close to Battersea Bridge early Tuesday morning. She has been identified in Colombia as the suspected killer of 14-year-old Ines de Bedout and 13-year-old Emilia Forero.

Authorities allege that Castro poisoned the girls by lacing their fruit with thallium, a heavy metal that is both colorless and odorless. This act was reportedly a twisted form of revenge following a secret affair with Ines’ father, Juan de Bedout.

An Interpol Red Notice was issued for Castro, implicating her in the delivery of the tainted dessert through a messenger service.

Once her health permits, Zulma is anticipated to undergo extradition proceedings.

Earlier this month, Castro publicly denied the allegations in a statement that quickly gained traction on social media platforms.

Over the weekend, she raised suspicions that she might be in the UK by drinking from a bottle of Buxton mineral water during an exclusive interview with Focus Noticias.

Colombian daily El Tiempo was one of the first to pick up on the fact it could offer a clue to her current whereabouts, after Interpol’s 196 member countries were asked to locate and detain Castro. 

A source told the paper: ‘The bottle of water she drank from was Buxton Natural Mineral Water, a reputed product which is mainly commercialised in the UK, although it can be purchased online.’

The same source said: ‘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.’

Another Colombian newspaper, Semana, added: ‘Investigators made inquiries on the official website and found out from it that the bottled water is only sold in the UK and is supplied to physical shops and retailers based in that country.

‘That information points to the possible place in which the alleged killer of the children could be staying.’

Another said: ‘This clue has enabled the authorities to temporarily rule out Guzman’s presence in Argentina where she initially fled, reinforcing the theory she is in hiding in the UK.’

Colombian police have not yet confirmed whether the water bottle clue was the lead factor which led to investigators in the South American country closing the net on Castro’s location, via cooperation with their British counterparts.

The businesswoman, who founded a car-sharing firm called Car-B, admitted to an extramatrimonial affair with Juan de Bedout in her Focus Noticias interview, as well as confessing she had put a GPS tracker on his car.

She said: ‘Regrettably I was his lover for many years, more than six.

‘The relationship with him was basically clandestine and we would see each other in my house or elsewhere in Bogota.

‘Our relationship ended at the beginning of 2020.’

Confirming she had tried to track his movements, she added: ‘I committed an error many years ago.

‘Precisely when I was in a relationship with Juan, out of jealousy and because I was entangled in all the lies, he challenged me, saying that I wasn’t capable of knowing where he was hiding.

‘I told him that I was capable, and that’s when I looked for a way to put the GPS in the car.’

But Castro denied any involvement in the schoolgirls’ poisoning, saying: ‘I am a mother, and that must be unbearable pain, and I understand that for that reason they want to find the culprit and use all possible means to do so, but I am not that culprit.

‘The strategy is clearly to completely destroy me before any legal proceedings, to destroy my image and give a version that would destroy me without any trial, without any guarantee of a fair trial at this time.’

The two schoolgirls lost their fight for life at Bogota’s benchmark hospital Santa Fe de Bogota Foundation just under a week after they were poisoned on April 3.

Another friend and a 21-year-old brother of one of the victims were also hospitalised after eating the raspberries but survived, although the girl is understood to have suffered lasting injuries.

Forensic experts have determined the heavy metal, which can be lethal in tiny doses, was deliberately injected into the raspberries before they were delivered to the luxury apartment in the Colombian capital Bogota, where the victims had been playing after school finished for the day.

Prosecutors allege Castro, who left Colombia on April 13, used a courier firm to deliver the fruity treat. 

The delivery man told investigators he was given the package containing the raspberries by a friend of the fugitive and advised it was a present for them because the dessert was one of their favourites.

Castro has been described as a long-term friend of Ines de Bedout family who knew their daily routine and was aware the youngster loved chocolate-covered raspberries.

The package was delivered to the girls just after 7pm local time on April 3, after they reportedly rejected an earlier attempt to hand it to them saying they weren’t expecting anything.

Castro, in a message which ended up in the hands of a Colombian newspaper, said: ‘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.

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

‘Public prosecutors have never informed me about any investigation and I sent a lawyer friend of mine yesterday to ask, because I heard rumours people were talking about me.

‘The following day my name is in the media. I hope those that know me support me and defend me.’

After Emilia died, her father Pedro Forero urged mourners to put on brightly-coloured clothes instead of black to attend the teenager’s funeral.

He said in a previous social media post: ‘Today I am trying to find words for something that cannot be explained. Emilia, my driving force in life, left this world leaving an infinite mark on all of us who had the privilege of knowing her, embracing her and loving her. 

‘Her joy, her sensitivity, her immense heart and her unique way of seeing the world will always be with us.

‘I would like to invite those who loved her, those who shared unique and special moments with her, to bid her farewell with love, with gratitude, with the colours she loved so much and with the joy she taught us to have even in difficult times.’

A Met Police spokesman said of yesterday morning’s rescue: ‘Police were called at 06:45hrs on Tuesday, 16 December to reports of a woman in distress on Battersea Bridge.

‘The Met’s Marine Policing Unit recovered a woman in her 50s from the water at 07.14hrs and she was taken to hospital, where her injuries have since been deemed not life-threatening or life-changing.’

Rescuers scoured the river with searchlights before finding Castro.

Colombian authorities have made a request to the UK for her capture and it is understood a warrant was issued by Westminster Magistrates Court for her arrest earlier this week.

A Christmas cake poisoning in December last year in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul which left three people and three others fighting for their lives, made headlines around the world.

Teacher Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, another sibling called Neuza Denize Silva Dos Anjos, 65 and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana Silvia Dos Santos, 43, died within hours of eating the cake late on December 23.

Maida’s sister Zeli dos Anjos, who baked the cake later found to have been contaminated with arsenic-laced flour, survived after a long hospital stay. The victims also included a 10-year-old boy.

Zeli’s daughter-in-law Deise Moura dos Anjos was arrested over the horror crime but hanged herself in prison in February after being remanded in custody.   

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

Colombian law enforcement requested the assistance of UK police to detain Castro. It’s understood an arrest warrant was issued by Westminster Magistrates’ Court earlier this week.

If she is fit enough, Castro will be taken into custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ for an extradition hearing. 

Earlier this month, 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.

In a gut-wrenching message alongside a photo of Emilia as a baby, Forero added: ‘Daughter, you will always be the greatest love I could ever feel as a father. 

‘No girlfriend or wife could ever generate the love I felt when I had you, and I will carry this love with me until the last day of my life.

‘I love you and will love you for the rest of my life. I miss you. I am sorry I could not protect you from this broken world.

‘Despite the pain, I am glad to have had you in my life. I hope to have one last hug from you, even if it is only in my dreams.’

Prosecutors claim Castro used a courier firm to deliver the deadly desert.

Since then, investigators in Colombia have been working to determine how the teenagers died, before prosecutors called in Interpol to help arrest Castro who was reportedly having an affair with Ines’ father, Juan de Bedout.

Local media claims the businesswoman, who founded an electric car rental company named Car B, may have poisoned the girls in a calculated bid to take revenge on her former lover.

Another teenage girl who ate the poisoned raspberries, along with the 21-year-old brother of one of the victims, were hospitalised following the incident seven months ago.

Both survived, but the girl is said to have suffered lasting health problems.

The poison used was initially linked to the poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko who died in a London hospital in November 2006.