Mexico: Penn interview was ‘essential’ capture

“I don’t think she is going to be in danger of the cartels because it was apparently El Chapo who was a huge fan of hers and made it known he wanted to meet her”, the source said, adding egos often trump caution.

(Kiko Guerrero via AP/EL DEBATE).

Guzman was finally recaptured on Friday in the northern city of Los Mochis after a bloody action movie-like shootout.

Sean Penn was a hot topic at the Golden Globes, even though the actor didn’t attend.

Felbab-Brown said Penn’s October meeting with Guzman represented a “major problem” if Mexico only found out about it after the actor flew in. That group’s former leader, Benjamin Arellano Felix, was extradited from Mexico in 2011 and was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in 2012.

The Oscar victor received some help from Latin actress Kate del Castillo as he attempted to set up his interview for Rolling Stone magazine, which was published online on Saturday (09Jan16).

Mexican authorities have formally begun the process to extradite Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Mexican drug lord who was captured last Friday, to the U.S.

The meeting was made possible because Guzman struck up an unlikely friendship with Del Castillo, who herself played a Mexican drug queen in a well-known TV soap.

Little has gone right for Mexico’s beleaguered president, Enrique Pena Nieto, since he tweeted to the world Friday that his top security forces had recaptured the world’s most-wanted drug lord.

Penn wrote that they had a seven-hour sit-down, followed by phone and video interviews.

He wrote that he was flown aboard a small plane that had a device that jams radar. Mexico’s government had been following a Guzman lawyer who accompanied them. The photographs bolster the idea that authorities were tracking Penn’s movements in a bid to find the elusive Guzman.

The newspaper said the photos are part of a Mexican government intelligence file.

Asked about the images Monday, Penn would only say: “I’ve got nothin’ to hide”. Rolling Stone published Penn’s article the following day.

Penn did not respond directly to questions on whether it was appropriate for him to submit his story to Guzman for approval in advance of publication, though he said in the article that Guzman requested no changes.

Penn’s representatives have not commented on the claims by Mexican officials.

Officials warned the extradition process could take a long time as Guzman’s lawyers file legal appeals and manoeuvre to keep their client in Mexico, where he has already escaped from maximum security prisons twice.

Observers say the Mexican government may see extradition as the best way to ensure he does not escape again.

That helped lead them days later to a ranch where Guzman was staying, one of the sources said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the Western District of Texas accuse Guzman and a series of associates of bringing cocaine and marijuana into the state through vast open desert, across bridges and via other trafficking routes, and then arranging for the proceeds to be smuggled back into Mexico. Although this is often charged in situations where a USA corporation or individual travels to bribe a foreign government official, it could also apply to a situation where an American travels internationally to promote unlawful activity, such as to sell drugs.

On Monday, the prison was ringed by soldiers, some riding in armored personnel carrier, as well as marines and federal police.

The Attorney General’s Office issued a statement Sunday it’s started the extradition mechanism by notifying Guzman that two arrest warrants from the US are being processed.