In the months after Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán escaped from a Mexican prison, actor and director Sean Penn interviewed the notorious druglord as he evaded capture.
Guzmán, one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, met with Penn over seven hours in October and had several follow-up interviews via phone and video, according to a New York Times report.
{mosads}Penn’s story for Rolling Stone magazine was published online Saturday night.
The reports detail Guzmán’s escape from prison in July 2015, when he slipped through a hole in the floor of his shower into a mile-long tunnel where a motorcycle was waiting for him.
Penn details the security measures he took while planning to meet Guzmán.
“My head is swimming, labeling TracPhones (burners), one per contact, one per day, destroy, burn, buy, balancing levels of encryption, mirroring through Blackphones, anonymous e-mail addresses, unsent messages accessed in draft form,” the actor wrote for Rolling Stone.
The two eventually met face to face at an unidentified compound in the jungle in Mexico.
Throughout the interview, Guzmán details his childhood and how he got into the drug business.
“Unfortunately, as I said, where I grew up there was no other way and there still isn’t a way to survive, no way to work in our economy to be able to make a living,” Guzmán told Penn.
The conversation eventually turned to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after some reports that Guzmán put a $100 million bounty on Trump after he made offensive comments about Mexicans.
“Ah! Mi amigo!” Guzman responded.
Guzmán was captured by Mexican authorities Friday.
The Mexican government is preparing to extradite him to the United States to prevent him from escaping Mexican prison again.