The Mexican government has released GoPro footage of the raid which resulted in the capture of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the man who is considered to be the most wanted drug lord in the world.
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Penn, in an article published by Rolling Stone magazine on Saturday, said del Castillo had been in contact with Guzman while he was in prison through letters after the kingpin’s attorney approached her. Only time will tell whether prosecution of the Sinaloa cartel leader, who has been blamed for the murder of thousands, will ultimately strengthen relations between Mexico and the United States.Guzman has had at least eight open indictments in US federal jurisdictions, including New York, Chicago, Miami and El Paso, Texas, that date to the 1990s.
While the government seeks to ship Guzman across the border, a military tank sits outside the Altiplano prison west of the capital and a cell’s floors were reinforced with metal rods to prevent another tunnel.
Legal experts doubt that the actors will face charges, especially if their meeting with Guzman is seen as journalistic work.
But he noted, “meeting with a fugitive or criminal is not a crime, even if the law says we should report crimes, there is no punishment for not doing so”.
U.S. investigators will also examine Penn’s interactions with Guzman, two U.S. government sources said on Monday, but it was unclear if prosecutors would try to force the actor to turn over information about the interview.
Mexico is formally starting extradition proceedings against Guzman, President Enrique Pena Nieto’s government said late on Sunday, in the strongest sign yet that it intends to send him to the United States.
In a pre-dawn attack by Mexican marines who killed five of his henchmen, the portly capo survived by squeezing through a secret tunnel into the city’s grimy storm drains, only to pop out of a manhole near a Pollo Feliz restaurant hours later. But Guzman himself escaped the raid, only to be captured later that day.
This time around, Mexican officials have said they are willing to extradite Guzman but warn the process could take a year. “It is very risky and irresponsible, in my mind, to glamorise the criminal activity that has taken so many lives in my country”, the Mexican director said. Loretta Lynch was the US attorney of the Eastern District in Brooklyn when that office indicted Guzman.
“Each and every each one of the flaws have been fixed”, an official said.
Gomez said the meeting was an “essential element” that led to Guzman’s capture.
Mexican actress Kate del Castillo was also present in the meeting.
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Every phone call or text, every movement in the region was analyzed, the ex-official said, including Guzman’s October 2 meeting with Penn and del Castillo. One of the federal officials confirmed that Guzman appeared to be infatuated with Del Castillo, apparently referring to her by the code name “Hermosa”, or “Beautiful”.
