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What was all that silly business from Sean Penn last night on 60 Minutes? He wanted to see El Chapo as a "person"? And we're all responsible for the drug trade? Really, Sean? What was your part in it? When David Rose tried to ask how he could give him the kind of credence that Sean's article did, Penn devolved into some new age blather. It would be rich justice if Sean and the starlet led the Federales to El Chapo.
Actress Kate del Castillo is under investigation on suspicion of money laundering in Mexico, the nation's attorney general told a leading Mexican newspaper in an interview published Tuesday. A Mexican government official confirmed the investigation to CNN. Del Castillo, a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States, has not been charged with any crime and so far has only been called to give a statement to investigators, Attorney General Arely Gomez told El Universal.
The two-pronged investigation -- into the actress's links to drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and into the finances of her boutique tequila brand, Honor Del Castillo -- will determine if drug money went to her business. There are indications that El Chapo provided illicit funds for del Castillo's tequila business, Gomez told the newspaper, but the links have not been proved. "Even where there are indications, we need legal certainty," Gomez told El Universal. Investigators are looking into communications between the actress, Guzman and his lawyer that included comments like "we're in business" and "we're in this together," Gomez said.
Secret meeting with the fugitive
Guzman, the leader of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, is behind bars. He was arrested this month after an escape from a maximum-security prison that embarrassed the Mexican government. But before El Chapo was recaptured, he had a secret meeting with del Castillo and actor Sean Penn in a Mexican jungle. Mexican authorities later said that they were tracking the two actors and that their meeting with the drug capo ultimately led to his capture. Most of the attention after Guzman's arrest has been on Penn's role and the article he penned for Rolling Stone magazine about his interview with the fugitive kingpin. But it is del Castillo, who brokered the meeting, who is wanted for questioning by Mexican investigators.
Penn, the attorney general told El Universal, is not being investigated by Mexican authorities. Del Castillo has been mostly silent since Guzman's arrest, but she recently thanked her supporters on Twitter. "Not surprisingly, many have chosen to make up items they think will make good stories and that aren't truthful. I look forward to sharing my story with you," the actress said. CNN has reached out to del Castillo for comment.
Investigation focused on tequila, not movies
Part of the reason for the meeting in the jungle was that del Castillo wanted to tell Guzman's story in a movie. The attorney general said that her office is not interested in the movie-making plans, but in del Castillo's tequila business and whether she received drug money. "We have an investigation into the tequila angle; we are not investigating her plans to make a movie," Gomez told El Universal. "Our investigation is focused." Del Castillo is not required to travel to Mexico to give a statement; she has the option of giving it at her nearest Mexican Consulate, Gomez said.
Kate del Castillo investigated, report says - CNN.com
Del Castillo, who helped actor Sean Penn set up a meeting with Guzman, was subpoenaed in January as part of a money-laundering investigation by Mexico's attorney general. The United States has also initiated an inquiry. El Universal, a Mexican newspaper, launched its own investigation and found that Del Castillo's Miami headquarters is a "ghost company." Del Castillo is the owner and spokeswoman for Tequila Honor LLC, which began operating in the United States first in Delaware and then in Florida last August. Mail delivered to the company is sent to the Miami address.
The Miami headquarters of the tequila company owned by Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, who is under investigation for her ties to drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has been reportedly abandoned for months -- fueling suspicions that it is a front.
A guard at the property told El Universal the place is empty and no one has lived or worked there for several months. The tequila, called Honor del Castillo, is produced at a factory in Arandas in Mexico's Jalisco state. The Mexican government's investigation will look into Del Castillo's links to Guzman and her company's finances in an effort to determine if drug money went into her business. Del Castillo has denied the allegations.
There was a social media firestorm over the weekend over rumors that Guzman broke out of prison for a third time. The information was found to be false, as it came from a hoax ABC News website. The website has successfully fooled the media and public before. Once when it reported U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order limiting U.S. gun owners to three weapons, and another when it reported Donald Trump would choose controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio as his vice presidential running mate.
'El Chapo' friend Kate del Castillo's Miami tequila company abandoned
The two men are accused of buying the property that was used to construct a small building where a mile-long tunnel was built underneath that Guzman used to escape Mexico's Altiplano Federal Prison in July. He was recaptured on Jan. 8.
A judge in Mexico City's 10th District Court sustained the holding injunction, which the unidentified defendants claimed violated their constitutional rights under a Mexican law that protects the human and fundamental rights of individuals, Radio Formula reports. The men will be detained for 40 to 80 additional days.
The judge said the men will not be held indefinitely, but until a thorough investigation into their alleged crimes is concluded. The court also ruled the men have not had their visiting rights revoked, stating the men have been visited by their family members on nearly a daily basis, El Universal reports.
Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel is credited with dominating the illegal drug market in nearly the entire United States. Mexican authorities in the last week arrested two high-level Sinaloa Cartel members: Raul Beltran Quintero, the alleged cartel boss of Mexico's Sonora state, and Juan Manuel Alvarez Inzunza, who is alleged to have laundered about $4 billion in the last ten years for Guzman's drug empire.
Men who allegedly bought land for 'El Chapo' tunnel must stay in jail
José Refugio Rodríguez Núñez said his client told him Tuesday the only solution Guzman sees to escape from what Guzman and his lawyers describe as "mental and physical torture" is an expedited extradition to the United States. Last week, Guzman's lawyer said his client was willing to negotiate an "unelevated" sentence to be imprisoned in a U.S. medium-security prison. Rodríguez Núñez said the extradition process could take no less than two months. He also criticized the Mexican government's "disastrous performance."
Guzman has repeatedly said he has been tortured through mistreatment while imprisoned at Altiplano Federal Prison. Director Salvador Almonte Solís recently said the drug kingpin is not being tortured and is instead trying to play the victim. In a letter to a judge, Almonte Solís said there is no reason to believe Guzman's life is at risk, adding the imprisoned drug lord is attempting to victimize himself while causing instability in the prison. Guzman recently a formal complaint alleging he has been tortured and his health has deteriorated while under the care of prison officials. He said officials won't allow him to see his family and won't allow him to sleep due to roll calls every two hours.
Guzman's allegations have gone so far that he has said he is becoming a "zombie" -- while his lawyers accuse prison authorities of subjecting his client to "physical and mental torture." "I do not fail to mention that it is completely untrue that his rest is disturbed at night or during the day," Almonte Solís said. "The act that he has not had a family visit is not attributable to this authority, as his family has not shown interest in meeting the established requirements in terms of authorizing visits." Guzman was captured in the city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa on Jan. 8 after escaping from Mexico's Altiplano Federal Prison on July 11. Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel is credited with dominating the illegal drug market in nearly the entire United States.
'El Chapo' wants quick extradition to U.S. out of 'desperation'
Kate del Castillo said: "Today's news that El Chapo may be extradited to the United States is good news in that it will allow my team greater access to him in order to tell a full and accurate picture of his unbelievable life and work." Mexican judicial authorities said a judge had ruled that legal requirements had been met for sending Guzman to the US to face drug charges. The country's Foreign Relations Department must still approve extradition, and Guzman's lawyers can appeal. Del Castillo arranged actor Sean Penn's interview with Guzman in October while the leader of the Sinaloa cartel was on the run after his second escape from prison. She has said she was able to do so because of a relationship that developed around Guzman's interest in having a film made about his life.
Kate del Castillo aims to produce a movie about drug lord El Chapo
Mexican authorities have said they are investigating whether del Castillo received any money from Guzman. She denies that happened. Her optimism that Guzman would be more accessible in the US after extradition could be misplaced. "I think that her statement is wishful thinking," said David S Weinstein, a former prosecutor who oversaw the narcotics division at the prosecutor's office in Miami. "She will have little to no access to him prior to his trial or the resolution of all the cases for which he is extradited to the US to stand trial."
After a conviction, del Castillo would have to request an interview through the Bureau of Prisons. With such high-profile inmates, such requests are not routinely granted. Guzman's lawyers have confirmed that del Castillo has the rights to make a movie about his life. On Monday, notary public Gabriel Ezeta said he was the one who issued the document in which Guzman gave permission to del Castillo and two others to use his name. The document was issued in January last year and signed by Guzman inside the Altiplano maximum-security prison from which he escaped through a tunnel the following July.
Actress optimistic about extradition of Mexican drug lord El Chapo - Independent.ie
