Will Sean Penn face legal issues due to secret meeting with Mexican drug lord El Chapo?

By

On Friday, Mexican authorities closed in and arrested once again feared Mexican drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. The arrest was made more than two months after Hollywood actor Sean Penn sat down for a secret meeting with the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Guzman has been the center of an international manhunt carried out by both the Mexican and U.S. law enforcement agencies after he escaped from the Altiplano jail in South America in July of last year, BBC reported. According to the news site, he broke free from the maximum-security prison by using a tunnel he dug under his cell.

Then, in October, Penn travelled to the Mexican jungle for a seven hour meeting with Guzman. The interview was arranged by Mexican actress, Kate del Castillo, and was detailed in an article written by Penn for the Rolling Stone.

According to the write up, Guzman admitted that his organization provides the world's supply of marijuana, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. However, he denied that he is responsible for the increasing number of drug additions in different parts of the globe.

Following the arrest of Guzman and the publication of Penn's article, the U.S. government and other officials criticized the actor's interaction with the wanted criminal and his involvement in the case. After all, months before he was captured, Penn already knew the whereabouts of Guzman but did not coordinate with authorities who were looking for him. However, it is not yet clear if Mexican law enforcers would want to question Penn and del Castillo regarding their connections to Guzman.

But, according to Rikki Klieman, a legal analyst forCBS News, Penn can be considered as a journalist when he carried out the interview with the criminal. As a journalist, he is not required to divulge details of their meeting to U.S. or Mexican authorities. In other words, the analyst believes the actor will not face any legal troubles for what he did back in October.

Currently, Guzman is being held in the same prison facility he escaped from last year. He is expected to be extradited to the U.S. to face the other charges filed against him.

Tags
Mexican Drug Cartel

© 2025 Lawyer Herald All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Join the Discussion
More Law & Society
A Customs and Border Patrol agent

ICE Claims 'Intellectually Disabled' Man Admitted to Entering the U.S. Illegally Before Being Detained. He Was Born in New Mexico

Young Children Forced to Appear in Immigration Court Without Parents,

Young Children Forced to Appear in Immigration Court Without Parents, Lawyers: 'The Cruelty Is Really Apparent'

Woman Forced Terminally Ill Husband to Take 'Cocktail of Medications'

Woman Forced Terminally Ill Husband to Take 'Cocktail of Medications' Because She 'Couldn't Take It Anymore': Prosecutors

Peter Dellbridge

Man Told Young Girl 'This Is What Big Girls' Do Before Showing Her Porn, Assaulting Her: Judge