Guzman’s July 11 prison escape his second in the past 14 years – was accomplished through a 1.5-kilometer underground tunnel, dug in secret from his cell to a nearby village.
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Penn writes that Guzman gave him a “compadre” hug when they met. He said they had a seven-hour sitdown followed by phone and video interviews. A face-to-face interview was not possible, but Penn interviewed Guzman through messaging and video.
It appears authorities knew Penn and actress Kate del Castillo – who facilitated the meeting and had gained Chapo’s trust – had hatched a plan to do a sit-down with Chapo.
But following a close call with Mexican authorities El Chapo had to skip the meeting.
El Chapo is expected to be extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. “I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats”.
The interview added another twist to the surreal life of the two-time prison escapee.
In the end, Vigil said, Guzman was outed by neighbors who reported the movements of his security detail in the otherwise-ordinary neighborhood. A motorcycle on rails inside the tunnel was adjusted to run in an environment with limited oxygen, he said.
It was conducted in October in the Mexican jungle after Guzman’s jail break, and published by Rolling Stone.
The Rolling Stone article came out one day after authorities arrested Guzman in a military raid early Friday that left five suspects dead in Los Mochis, a coastal city in his native northwestern state of Sinaloa. And he wasn’t referring to the gross fart that Penn let fly during his meeting with the drug lord.
He also threw some shade at the actor.
Mexican government sources told ABC News on Saturday that Penn and del Castillo are under investigation in connection to the interview with Guzman. “Today, he runs the biggest worldwide drug cartel the world has ever known, exceeding even that of Pablo Escobar”.
Del Castillo has not commented since the publication of the article.
Guzman is wanted in a half-dozen U.S. states. Mexican forces used helicopter gunships to attack Guzman’s ranch during a siege that lasted days.
Linksey said that there is an indictment against him in New Hampshire. “I hope they extradite El Chapo to the United States”.
The Mexican attorney general’s office said in a statement Saturday that any injunctions presented by Guzman’s lawyers won’t prevent his extradition.
“That can take weeks or months, and that delays the extradition”, he said.
He is charged with smuggling vast amounts of drugs into the US. However, the timing will likely depend on any injunctions filed by Guzman’s lawyers, meaning that a US trial could still be a year or more away. In 2001, Guzman was wheeled out by a janitor in a laundry cart.
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Measures to increase security at the prison have been put into place, and prison staff were reviewed to make sure they are following proper “behavior protocols”, national security and prison authorities said Sunday.
