Sean Penn tells ’60 Minutes’ his ‘El Chapo’ mission ‘failed’

The actor has broken his silence to 60 Minutes about his secret trip to Mexico to meet the kingpin known as El Chapo and denied he played any role in authorities tracking down the convict who spent six months on the run after escaping from prison.

One of the biggest news stories of the past week was the arrest of Mexican drug cartel leader El Chapo and the interesting circumstances surrounding that event. However, when asked by Rose if he felt his life was in danger, Penn simply said, “No”. “And I make an observation and try to parallel that”.

Penn, in an interview with CBS, bemoaned that talk of his clandestine October meeting with Guzman, and his Rolling Stone article about it, has instead focused on whether he indirectly helped authorities capture him – which he denies.

Penn said the Mexican government was “clearly very humiliated”.

Rose: You have said to the AP, and I’m asking now, you have no regrets?

CBS released some of the interview in advance last week – including a segment in which the Oscar-winning actor said he’d concluded that the controversial interview was a “failure” because it distracted attention from his real aim: putting the war on drugs on the front burner.

The US-Mexican star has come under scrutiny since it was revealed last week that she exchanged affectionate text messages with Guzman and brokered a meeting between the Sinaloa drug cartel honcho and US actor Sean Penn. “I go and I spend time in the company of another human being”.

No, it was that much of the coverage about the clandestine meeting focused on El Chapo’s confessions, the legal repercussions Sean could face, and most of all, how the Hollywood star managed to secure an interview with the top drug dealer.

Penn added he’s convinced the Mexican government leaked the information in part because they wanted to see him blamed for the capture as he largely has been, and to perhaps encourage Guzman and his henchmen to place him on their hit list.

Penn: Let me be clear. “My article failed”, he told Rose. “One percent? I think that’d be generous”.

According to Telegraph UK, Penn quoted Guzman as saying, “I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world”.

The full interview will air Sunday.

Mexico’s Attorney General has said Penn’s contacts with El Chapo were “essential” to helping them track down the fugitive, who escaped from prison in July previous year.