Mexican officials said it was Penn’s interview that led them to Guzman.
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While Penn does not give the specific location of the interview, he said it was conducted in Mexico.
Penn secured a rare meeting with El Chapo in Mexico in October.
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.
Guzman escaped from the maximum security Altiplano jail in July and was recaptured on Friday.
Gomez said an “important aspect that allowed us to locate him was that we discovered Guzman’s intention to make a biographical film, for which he established contact with actresses and producers”.
Penn called it “the first interview El Chapo had ever granted outside an interrogation room”, as quoted by Reuters. “I didn’t even know he was still around”.
“I am sure that authorities, however, will want to question both of them”, he said. It was also rumored that El Chapo put an $100 million bounty on Donald Trump following his controversial statements regarding Mexican immigrants. “I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats”.
When Penn asked him about the destructive effects of drugs, Guzman didn’t deny it. “It’s a reality that drugs destroy”, he said. “Drug trafficking? That’s false”.
Outlining Guzman’s story, Penn then writes: “I take no pride in keeping secrets that may be perceived as protecting criminals, nor do I have any gloating arrogance at posing for selfies with unknowing security men”. Where El Chapo would be sent depends on the strength of the case.
Asked if he feels responsible for the high level of addictions in the world, he said: “It’s false”.
The recently captured drug lord was unapologetic in the video for running one of the world’s biggest drug trafficking organizations.
However, Guzman’s lawyers have already filed several motions to challenge any extradition requests, with law enforcement officials warning it could be six months before he is flown across the border. He downplayed injuries to his face and leg reported by the authorities, saying: “Not like they said”.
Well, as for being free, – happy, because freedom is really nice, and pressure, well, for me it’s normal, because i’ve had to be careful for a few years now in certain and, no, I don’t feel anything that hurts my health or my mind. Authorities aborted their raid at the time because he was with two women and child.
The Mexican Attorney General’s office will be working as fast as possible to establish the path to extradition, and Chapo could be sent to the United States by mid-year, a source familiar with the situation said on Saturday.
One of Guzman’s attorneys, Juan Pablo Badillo, promised a legal battle that could reach the Supreme Court. “Mi amigo!” El Chapo responded.
It was from that prison that Guzman escaped on July 11, sneaking into a hole in his cell’s shower that led to a 1.5-kilometer (one-mile) tunnel outside the prison.
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The actor goes on to describe the complicated measures he took to meet the legendary drug lord.
