Drug Kingpin El Chapo Was Caught Thanks To Flirty Texts With Mexican Actress

Cartel boss Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman was caught – at least in part – because of text messages he was sending to a Mexican actress he was infatuated with, it has emerged.

Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa cartel who sensationally escaped from a maximum security prison in July, had been in contact with Kate del Castillo and TV producers claiming that he was looking to have a biopic made of his life.

But it seems that it was del Castillo - star of Spanish language show La Reina del Sur, in which she plays a drug trafficking kingpin – who he was most interested in, after he met with her and actor Sean Penn to discuss his story.

Calling her 'beauty’ in his messages, and naming himself 'papa’, he wrote: “I’ll take care of you. You’ll see when you come. You’re so beautiful, my friend, in every aspect.”

In fact, it later emerged that Guzman was entirely unaware of who Penn was, later texting del Castillo to ask 'what’s that actor’s name?’, and reportedly asking his lawyers which films he’d starred in.

After the meeting, del Castillo texted Guzman to say 'I don’t sleep much since I saw you. I’m very excited about our story… It’s all I think about’.

To which he replied: “I’m more excited about you than the story.”

It’s thought that he was eventually caught because he was hoping to have a second meeting with del Castillo in Los Mochis, Mexico, in his own Sinaloa region.

An official said: “This was an almost obsessive interest that turned into another incentive to go down to the city, where he wanted to meet with her.”

In scenes that could have been plucked from a movie, he was almost caught during a shoot out in Durango following his meeting with Penn and del Castillo, during which he used his cook’s daughter as a human shield, so evading capture and fleeing to Los Mochis.

Following the near apprehension, marines later raided his hideout in Los Mochis, and following a gunfight with his henchman, Guzman was captured while trying to escape in a stolen car.

He is now detained at Altiplano, a maximum security prison.

In Penn’s article published in Rolling Stone, he wrote about Guzman’s childhood, and how he became involved in cartel life, adding that he claims he is not a violent man, despite being linked to countless murders.

However, Guzman’s lawyer has since alleged that Penn lied in his article, when he claimed that Guzman admitted he was the world’s leading drug trafficker.

“It is an utter lie,” said Juan Pablo Badillo. “An absurd speculation by Mr Penn. “He would not make such disclosures and comments.

“Mr Guzman is a man who is very serious, very intelligent. He is someone who is centred. And to put in his mouth these versions that are so absurd, it is a fallacy.

“In a way, it does complicate [his defence]. Mr Penn should be called to testify and respond to the stupidities he has said.”

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Image credits: AFP/AP/Rolling Stone