Sean Penn meeting, silver screen dreams help Mexican drug lord's downfall

Recaptured drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted by soldiers at the hangar belonging to the office of the Attorney General in Mexico City, Mexico January 8, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

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The encounter adds a new twist to the long and larger-than-life career of Guzman, whose nickname "Chapo" means "Shorty".

Penn unsuccessfully tried to set up a formal follow-up interview. Instead, as Mexican security forces closed in on Guzman, Penn and Del Castillo persuaded him to film a 17-minute tape answering pre-written questions, and ship them the footage.

The video clips show the drug lord in a colorful shirt and black cap at a different hideout, musing about his contribution to the narcotics trade and US consumption. Rolling Stone called it the drug lord's first-ever interview outside an interrogation.

A senior Obama administration official told television news shows on Sunday morning that Guzman's boasting about his heroin empire in the interview was "maddening."

"One thing I will tell you is that this braggadocious action about how much heroin he sends around the world, including the United States, is maddening," White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said on CNN's "State of the Union."

"We see a heroin epidemic, an opioid addiction epidemic, in this country," McDonough said. "We're going to stay on top of this with our Mexican counterparts until we get that back in the box. But El Chapo's behind bars - that's where he should stay."

McDonough would not comment on any repercussions for Penn.

The meeting was made possible because Guzman struck up an unlikely friendship with Del Castillo, who herself played a Mexican drug queen in a well-known TV soap.

Mexican Attorney General Arely Gomez on Friday said that the drug boss' yearning for the silver screen had helped bring him down.

"Another important aspect that helped locate him was discovering Guzman's intention to have a biographical film made. He contacted actresses and producers, which was part of one line of investigation," Gomez said.

The meeting with Penn and Del Castillo yielded insight into how Chapo may have continued to conduct business while he was incarcerated. Penn said some of Guzman's henchmen were certified as lawyers to allow them access to the boss while he was in prison.