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Mexico says formally starting extradition process against Guzman

Mexican authorities launched on Sunday the process to extradite drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to the United States, as they also sought to question U.S. actor Sean Penn over their clandestine meeting.

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The capture of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been dominating headlines, even more so after news broke yesterday that Hollywood’s own Sean Penn sat down with him for an interview for “Rolling Stone”. He said Guzman wanted Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, who facilitated the meeting between the men, involved in the project.

The interview, in which Penn visited Guzman in his Mexican hideout, was published by Rolling Stone magazine on Saturday evening local time, a day after Guzman’s arrest.

Vigil says he still follows what’s happening with the kingpin and Sunday he says it’s imperative that El Chapo is sent to the U.S.to face charges.

The newspaper said the photos, which appear to have been taken with a telephoto lens, are part of a Mexican government intelligence file that it obtained. After a bit of communication, he granted them an interview.

Sean gained access to the escaped convict late a year ago through a Mexican soap opera star, and he brought a few loosely identified producers along with him.

The kingpin narrowly escaped, with what he told Del Castillo was a minor leg injury, but the raid in the northern state of Durango was a major breakthrough in the manhunt.

Guzman was recaptured Friday, six months after breaking out of a Mexican prison.

The engineers who built the tunnel were flown to Germany for specialized training, Penn said Guzman told him.

Guzman, who is accused of running a major network that distributes cocaine and heroin, has been indicted by USA authorities in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. “Pure vanity”, Larrain said at the awards. El Chapo has tried to cultivate a Robin Hood persona for the region of Mexico he controls. There’s been some quite interesting posts on social media, a lot ridiculing of Penn, making – doing these twists on words with his name, which could be twisted into a bad word.

When they arrive at the rendezvous in a jungle clearing, Guzman opens Del Castillo’s auto door “and greets her like a daughter returning from college”, Penn wrote.

The video clips show the drug lord in a colorful shirt at a different hideout, musing about his contribution to the narcotics trade.

Writing for Rolling Stone, Penn acknowledged that Guzman was granted prior approval over the article (Guzman requested no changes, according to the actor), a violation of the commonly held rules of journalistic integrity.

We’re going to start with a story that continues to get more freakish by the day.

“He’s under no obligation to inform the authorities that he’s been in touch with El Chapo”, said Robert Weisberg, a professor at Stanford Law School.

McDonough would not comment on any repercussions for Penn.

Guzman initially gave Mexican security officials the slip by opening a secret doorway hidden behind a mirror, and descending into a sophisticated tunnel leading to the city’s drains.

“Well, it’s a reality that drugs destroy…Unfortunately, as I said, where I grew up there was no other way and there still isn’t a way to survive, no way to work in our economy to be able to make a living”.

“Another important aspect that helped locate him was discovering Guzman’s intention to have a biographical film made”.

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After Guzman escaped from a maximum-security prison in Mexico in July, del Castillo told CNN en Español she was dumbfounded.

Mexican drug lord Joaquin'El Chapo Guzman is escorted by soldiers and marines to a waiting helicopter at a federal hangar in Mexico City Friday Jan. 8 2016. The world's most wanted drug lord was recaptured by Mexican marines Friday six months after