The day after Mexican authorities recaptured Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, Rolling Stone posted an exclusive interview with the notorious drug kingpin conducted by none other than actor Sean Penn.
Penn met with Guzman in a clandestine mission to an undisclosed, mountainous area of mid-Mexico in early October 2015. Mexican actress Kate del Castillo facilitated the meeting. She had had limited contact with Guzman via letters, BBM and one of his lawyers.
Penn explained that El Chapo was interested in his life story being made into a film, "but would entrust its telling only to Kate." Penn and Castillo are reportedly under investigation for their interview, Mexican government sources told ABC News.
The actual interview consists of Penn's in-person conversation with Guzman and a 17-minute video he sent answering Penn's question in Spanish (Castillo translated and transcribed it for the actor). Rolling Stone posted two minutes of the video.
In another unusual step, Rolling Stone allowed for Guzman's approval of the piece for publication. Penn also changed names and didn't disclose any location names.
Their initial conversation covered topics such as the Middle East and meeting Pablo Escobar - "Yes, I met him once at his house. Big house." When asked about the $100 million bounty put on Donald Trump, he responded sarcastically, "Ah! Mi amigo!"
Guzman also boasted about his drug operation: "I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world. I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats."
Penn wanted to meet again about a week later for a in-depth, two-day interview, but was never able to make it back. Instead, he sent questions to him and received the video in return later.
According to Penn, the cameraman who asked the questions "asks a few of them directly, paraphrases others, softens many and skips some altogether." Guzman gave a little background about his childhood and growing up, how he got into the drug trade and what role his operations play on drug addiction worldwide.
Penn asked, "Do you think it is true you are responsible for the high level of drug addiction in the world?" He answered, "No, that is false, because the day I don't exist, it's not going to decrease in any way at all. Drug trafficking? That's false."
Guzman also blamed the consumers of drugs for the overall drug trafficking problem as opposed those who sell the drugs. "If there was no consumption, there would be no sales. It is true that consumption, day after day, becomes bigger and bigger. So it sells and sells."
A Mexican official confirmed the secret meeting between Penn and Guzman helped give law enforcement "a new lead on tracking and capturing" the drug lord, according to The Associated Press. The authorities almost recaptured Guzman during a raid in October only days after the interview.
