The woman was brought in for a visit to Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the former head of the Sinaloa cartel, at the Altiplano maximum security prison, supposedly as part of the legal defence team.
However, Mexico’s National Security Commission revealed that checks showed the woman had given a false ID and birth certificate under a false name.
The scam was discovered after the woman had ended her visit and it is not clear what, if any, charges, will be filed for the violation.
Guzman, whose El Chapo nickname translates as The Short One because he stands at 5ft 6ins, was first captured in 1993 in Guatemala and then extradited to Mexico on murder and drug trafficking charges.
He was sentenced to 20 years in jail but escaped in 2001 after bribing prison guards.
He was arrested last February after years on the run.