Escaping from Mexico’s maximum security Altiplano Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 July 11, 2015 through a mile-long ventilated tunnel underneath his toilet, 61-year-old Joaquim Guzman “El Chapo” Loera eluded Mexican authorities until they captured him again in a bloody shootout Jan. 8 in Los Mochis, Mexico. “Mission accomplished. We have him,” tweeted Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. “I want to inform the Mexican people that Joaquin Guzman Loera has been detained,” confirming a six-moth long chase ended in getting him alive. Embarassed by El Chapo’s daring escape, Pena-Nieto mentioned nothing about the drug lord’s Oct. 2, 2015 meeting with 55-year-old actor Sean Penn and famous 43-year-old Mexican actress Kate del Castillo. Meeting with Penn and del Castillo in Tamazula’s jungle last fall gave Mexican authorities all that they needed.
Reacting defensively to the Associated Press, Penn denied “taking hits” for his photos with El Chapo published in Rolling Stone Magazine. “I’ve to nothin’ to hide,” wrote Penn, denying he did anything wrong meeting with the billionaire head of Mexico’s Sinaloa Drug Cartel, worth at least $1 billion. While pulled out a sewer trying to escape in Los Mochis by the Mexican marines, El Chapo put up little resistance, knowing, like before, he’ll get another chance to escape. Paying off Mexico’s law enforcement, judges and attorneys, El Chapo’s confident authorities can’t keep him for too long in Mexico without another escape. Unnamed Mexican authorities confirmed that Penn and del Castillo’s Oct. 2, 2015 meeting with El Chapo led to his re-capture. Penn denied that he’d take any “hits” for meeting with Guzman-Loera. “No, you’re taking the hits,” Penn told the AP.
El Chapo agreed to meet with Penn and del Castillo to discuss a movie about the drug lord’s life. Penn wrote in the Rolling Stone article that “I see no spying eyes, but I assume they are there,” referring to how Mexican and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officials carefully tracked Penn and del Castillo’s secret meeting with El Chapo. Publishing 10 photo taken by government agents of Penn and del Castillo, the Mexican Newspaper El Universal confirmed that the two actors were carefully tracked. Penn’s indignation suggests a smoke screen about whether the two actors entrapped El Chapo for a joint U.S.-Mexico government sting operation. If Penn or del Castillo admitted to cooperating with the DEA or Mexican drug authorities their lives would be toast. El Universal admitted that the 10 photos were part of Mexican government intel, carefully monitoring the Oct. 2 meeting.
Agreeing to meet with Penn and del Castillo speaks volumes about just how far gone El Chapo has become. Knowing that he was subject to a global manhunt, he couldn’t possibly think it was safe to meet with Penn and del Castillo, no matter how secret the meeting. When Penn and del Castillo arrived in Culiacan, Sinaloa Mexico, they were taken by car to a secret airstrip and flown to El Chapo’s jungle hideout. Meeting Guzman-Loera to discuss plans for story about his life, both actors said he was cordial, strangely flattered by their desire to tell his life’s story. ”The trust that El Chapo extended to us was not to be f–ked with,” said Penn, acting like his meeting was not arranged by the DEA or Mexican Atty. Gen. Arley Gomez. Penn’s public remarks regarding the Rolling Stone article and published photos showing him shaking hands with El Chapo expose his defiance.
Back in Aliplano maximum security prison some 55 miles West of Mexico City, El Chapo faces extradition by U.S officials. Manuel Merino, who heads Mexico’s extradition office, admitted that the process could take over a year, perhaps never happen due to legal challenges. Mexican authorities suspected the warden and several other prison employees at the Altiplano prison for helping Guzman-Loera escape last July. El Chapo’s influence inside and outside the prison suggest that history could repeat itself with another escape. Penn and del Castillo’s meeting with Guzman under the guise of telling his life’s story makes no sense, other than exposing El Chapo’s mental deterioration. Attracting any attention to himself was bound to lead to his arrest and capture, something that looks like a set up. Penn’s forceful denials stem from his involvement in a government sting operation.
Penn goes overboard presenting his rendezvous with El Chapo as the first real interview ever conducted outside law enforcement with the world’s most wanted drug dealer. “Do you consider yourself a violent person,” Penn asked Guzman-Loera. “No, sir,” answered El Chapo, explaing he only tries to defend himself. Guzman’s Sinaloa Drug Cartel is responsible for transforming Mexico into a violent killing field, hurting at least 10% of Mexico’s $16 billion tourism industry. When El Chapo’s Sinaloa Drug Cartel beheaded hundreds of folks in the drug wars in 2010, it dropped Mexico’s tourism from $15 billion to $12 billion in 2011 or a 20% net loss. Penn glamorizes Guzman’s life. “We are the consumers,” said Penn, blaming America’s insatiable appetite for drugs on El Chapo’s successful business. Penn’s does everything possible to cover-up his role in a joint U.S.-Mexico sting operation.
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