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Delicious Sauce

... Rolling Stone has an interview with El Chapo, conducted before his recapture by—it probably goes without saying—international narcotics journalist and Fast Times At Ridgemont High star Sean Penn. The interview—which features such gems as Penn referring to his cohort Espinoza as, “the owl who flies among falcons”—was set up with help from Kate Del Castillo, a very popular Mexican soap opera star, because there is no facet of this story that fails to insist on being utterly ridiculous.

It’s not clear if his contact with Penn and Del Castillo contributed to Guzmán being caught—Penn’s account suggests that the Mexican government was at least partially aware of their movements—but the actor ultimately secured the interview via a series of translated questions, which Guzmán then replied to on a tape that was smuggled back across the border...

Also in the story is that El Chapo (Guzmán) was caught after escaping from prison for a second time. I thought about going with a less sarcastic version of the story but it just didn't seem necessary.

The click-bait pic on Drudge Report shows Penn shaking hands with El Guapo. Did this not happen? It seems at odds with the last sentence you quoted.

File picture?

 Breotan wrote:
The click-bait pic on Drudge Report shows Penn shaking hands with El Guapo. Did this not happen? It seems at odds with the last sentence you quoted.

It has the same picture on others as well. Maybe it was from earlier? Or maybe they met once for the picture. The article just says the interview was conducted through tape back and forth, or that that was how Penn was able to get the interview, but it doesn't say they never met at any point.

I am no fan of Hanoi Jane, but I feel like she should have been deported a long time ago. It feels as if the last 10 years Sean Penn has been following in her footsteps in a lot of anit-american sentiment. That is his right, with his crazy letters and what not. But he is absolutely bat shizzle crazy if he thinks this is a good idea.

Maybe we could spread rumors that Penn was working for the Mexican government, and was instrumental in them finding Chapo...

 Frazzled wrote:
Maybe we could spread rumors that Penn was working for the Mexican government, and was instrumental in them finding Chapo...

Rumours not necessary. It was at least in part the truth, it has already been confirmed that clues from Sean Penn and Kate del Castillo helped lead law enforcement authorities to Guzmans whereabouts.

The thing is it appears you would like to imply Penn was in on it. It was just a lot easier to follow his trail than Guzman's. We don't know what specific clues Penn dropped, but it doesnt really matter. Tracking him was a logical stop to tracking Guzman and it is not like Penn doesn't want to be found.

We can only guess at what happened.
The Sinaloa are not idiots they would have arranged for Penn to temporarily disappear to be transported covertly prior to the interview. But he would have departure and arrival points and intel could be gained from those.
The intelligence agencies could organise a 'creep', raiding Penns studio or where he kept any raw unedited footage, copying it and exiting without any recognisable trace. That would say a lot.
Penn could also be interviewed by a pretty blonde or some such. He isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the box and could give away a lot in open conversation.
I bet a dime to a dollar CIA were all over Sean Penn for the last few months, and he probably wasn't aware of it.