Actor and director Sean Penn could be in a heap of trouble over his exclusive interview with El Chapo according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Penn secretly met with Joaquin Guzman while he was on the run from Mexican authorities, and now he could face an investigation into whether his activities were illegal.
It is unclear if Penn was specifically one of those persons referred to, but he did write in the Rolling Stone piece, “There is no question in my mind but that DEA and the Mexican government are tracking our movements.”
News agency AFP on Sunday quoted an anonymous Mexican official saying it has yet to be determined whether Penn and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo committed a crime in interviewing El Chapo. The official said reporters can interview drug cartel suspects, but “they (Penn and del Castillo) are not journalists.”
The Oscar-winning actor gave a detailed account of all the preparation for the October meeting with Guzman, including using “burner” phones, “one per contact, one per day, destroy, burn, buy, balancing levels of encryption, mirroring through Blackphones, anonymous email addresses, unsent messages accessed in draft form,” Penn wrote.
ABC News reported Saturday night that Mexican government officials said Penn and del Castillo “are under investigation for their ‘interview’ with Guzman.”
Penn may have an even bigger problem with the Cartel — as it is unclear if Penn led authorities to Guzman.