Crime saga junkies rejoice, the storied tale of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman continues!
Apprehended in his home state of Sinaloa, Guzman is in the custody of Mexican officials for the third time over the last two decades.
In the past, it has been common belief that El Chapo has been tracked down through sustained cloak and dagger missions and high-tech surveillance.
However, there are rumors swirling about that the actor, philanthropist, and journalist Sean Penn has aided in El Chapo’s latest apprehension.
Yes, there are sincere allegations that Spicoli, from Fast Times at Ridgmont High, led the authorities to El Chapo’s hilltop hideaway after conducting an interview for Rolling Stone Magazine just weeks prior.
In a recent 60 Minutes interview Penn denied such allegations, contending that his sole intention was to shed light on the failing drug war. Specifically, the fact that the war will with indefinitely continue with, or without, El Chapo at the helm.
Even though speculating on collusion between Hollywood and the FBI or DEA would be endlessly titillating, it is hard to believe a man who proclaimed he can barely operate a laptop, would be much help to any drug task force.
Unfortunately, if he wasn’t helping to apprehend El Chapo, he certainly did not accomplish his goal of shedding light on underlying issues of the drug war.
His piece in the rolling stone read more like a travel article than a one-on-one sit down with the most infamous drug trafficker in the world. Faced with the opportunity for a journalistic feat of monumental proportions, Penn wet the bed.
Of the 10,000 words written, and the 17 minutes of recorded responses, there was little matter of substance.
Penn’s written piece was dripping in narcissism. Between speaking about his lack of technical prowess, to including anecdotes about fondness for his male member, the whole story read like a novel instead of an expose.
Nevertheless, the article is well-written, and drags you along to the very end, with the anticipation of hearing El Chapo’s answers to questions that are on the minds of people across the world.
Much like the infamous pool scene in Fast Times, we are all left disappointed when the highly anticipated journalistic-coitus never appeared.
Because the authorities raided the kingpin’s compound, Penn was unable to return for the interview that he was there for in the first place. In place of the interview, El Chapo recorded short answers to select questions, skipping some altogether.
Hardly the hard-hitting journalism we were expecting.
Still, we all received insight into the mind of one of the most powerful, and arguable maniacal, men in the world.
Assuming El Chapo’s answers were not the carefully calculated, he appears to be a humble, hard-working success story.
His story is not all that dissimilar to the millions of Americans forced into crime because of their roots in poverty. The hills of Sinaloa, much like the inner-city ghettos of the US, create nearly zilch in the way of economic opportunity.
As explained in the interview, everything El Chapo did was to put food on his family’s plate. So, can we blame the guy for doing had to be done?
The answer: at least a little bit. Necessity is not a viable excuse for commanding worldwide violence and social destruction.
In some regard El Chapo should pardoned of his crimes, certainly not in the eyes of the law, but by the general public. If it weren’t for such a nasty criminal machine countless families, both Mexican and American, many wouldn’t have roofs over their heads or food on their plates.
Unfortunately, other countless families wouldn’t have dead or drug addicted children either. At the very least, Penn did well to illustrate the social and economic paradox of syndicated crime.