Kate del Castillo Questioned over Links with El Chapo Guzman
Kate del Castillo has been called in for questioning over her links with the imprisoned Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
The Mexican actress set up a meeting in October between El Chapo Guzman, who was then on the run, and Sean Penn.
Kate del Castillo and El Chapo Guzman exchanged dozens of messages before she and Sean Penn met him in northern Mexico.
El Chapo (Shorty) Guzman was arrested on January 8, six months after escaping from a high security jail.
The lord was captured by Mexican troops in the northern city of Los Mochis and taken back to the Altiplano prison.
Mexican authorities are considering El Chapo Guzman’s extradition to the US. In the meantime, they say he is being kept under 24-hour surveillance to prevent another escape.
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Sean Penn interviewed El Chapo Guzman for Rolling Stone magazine.
The contact between Kate del Castillo and El Chapo Guzman helped Mexican police establish his whereabouts and eventually capture him.
Attorney General Arely Gomez said the security forces had been following El Chapo Guzman’s lawyer, who led them to Sean Penn and Kate del Castillo.
Mobile phone exchanges between Kate del Castillo and El Chapo Guzman reveal that he initially did not know who Sean Penn was.
He seemed to be infatuated by the actress, who is famous in Mexico.
Kate del Castillo is best known for her portrayal of drug boss Teresa Mendoza in the soap opera La Reina del Sur (Queen of the South).
El Chapo Guzman was planning to get Hollywood to produce a movie about his life.
Kate del Castillo persuaded El Chapo Guzman that Sean Penn had the experience and connections to realize his dream.
“I don’t have the means to pay for what you’re doing for me,” he wrote, according to transcripts obtained by El Universal newspaper.
Responding to rumors that she had become too close to El Chapo Guzman, Kate del Castillo tweeted on January 13 that she would tell her side of the story.
“As expected, many people have decided to manipulate the information and fabricate false stories to divert us from the real issue,” she wrote.
“I will soon give you my version.”
Mexican prosecutors said Kate del Castillo, who is in the US, will be allowed to be questioned at the embassy in Los Angeles.
El Chapo Guzman was Mexico’s most wanted man.
He was the founder of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which smuggled vast amounts of illegal drugs into the US.
El Chapo Guzman is linked to other crimes, including murder and extortion.