Recapturing "El Chapo"
Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the infamous boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was recaptured in northwest Mexico on the morning of January 8, 2016, and sent back to the prison he broke out of in July 2015 through a mile-long tunnel from his cell.
The strange Hollywood-style tale of the second prison escape by El Chapo became stranger still when Guzman's desire to film a biopic and a secret meeting with actor Sean Penn helped lead to his arrest.
In this photo, El Chapo is escorted by soldiers during a presentation at the hangar belonging to the office of the Attorney General in Mexico City, January 8, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
A soldier keeps watch outside the house where five people were shot dead during an operation to recapture the world's top drug lord El Chapo Guzman at Jiquilpan Boulevard in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 10, 2016.
A secret meeting that Hollywood star Sean Penn orchestrated with El Chapo in a jungle hideout late 2015 helped Mexico's government catch the world's most wanted drug lord, sources said.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
A view of the entrance to the room of the roadside motel Doux where an operation to recapture El Chapo concluded on January 8, 2016 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state, Mexico.
Guzman, head of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, was captured in an early morning raid that killed five.
El Chapo's 2015 escape tunnel
It was only the latest in a series of brazen escapes. In 2015, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman broke out of a Mexican prison by riding a motorcycle through an escape tunnel constructed three stories underground through dirt and rock.
El Chapo's 2015 escape tunnel
Mexico's Attorney General Arely Gomez Gonzalez (2nd R) looks into the entrance of a tunnel connected to the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary and used by drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman to escape on July 12, 2015.
He was recaptured, but broke out of prison again a year later.
Sean Penn & "El Chapo"
Actor Sean Penn (L) shakes hands with Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in Mexico, in this undated Rolling Stone photo obtained by Reuters on January 10, 2016. The photo was taken for authentication purposes to verify a meeting in late 2015 between the two men.
The recapture of El Chapo took a bizarre twist when Penn's exclusive secret interview with the drug lord, while Guzman was on the run, was published in Rolling Stone magazine January 10. Mexican officials confirmed that the interview led authorities to Guzman in a rural part of Durango state in October.
Kate del Castillo
Actress Kate del Castillo, best known for her 2011 role playing a drug kingpin in a Mexican TV series, reportedly brokered the secret meeting with Sean Penn and El Chapo. Penn wrote, "He was interested in seeing the story of his life told on film, but would entrust its telling only to Kate."
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Penn (C) with his traveling companions transfer to the Hotel Villa Ganz where they will register, leave their luggage and then travel in two vehicles from Guadalajara to the Paraiso del Sol in Tepic, Nayarit state, October 2, 2015.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Actor Sean Penn arrives from Los Angeles and enters the Hotel Villa Ganz in Guadalajara on October 2, 2015, ahead of his meeting with El Chapo.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Bullet holes are seen on a door inside the house where five people were shot dead during an operation to recapture the world's top drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman at Jiquilpan Boulevard in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 10, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
A destroyed microwave oven is seen next to a wall with bullet holes in a safe house, where five people were shot dead during an operation on Friday to recapture "El Chapo" Guzman, at Jiquilpan Boulevard in Los Mochis in Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 11.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Forensic technicians and soldiers stand outside a safe house where five people were shot dead during an operation to recapture drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in Los Mochis, Mexico, January 8, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
The Mexican government released video January 11, 2016 of the raid on El Chapo's safe house. An injured Mexican Marine is seen on the ground during an operation to capture Guzman in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, in this still image taken from the video released by the Mexican Navy.
Only one of the military sustained injuries.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Mexican Marines raid a house looking for El Chapo in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, in this still image taken from a January 8, 2016 video released by the Mexican Navy on January 11.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
A view of a door connecting to a tunnel leading to the city's drains used by El Chapo to escape is seen in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 11, 2016.
The world's most-wanted drug boss gave Mexican security forces the slip by opening a secret doorway hidden behind a mirror and descending into a sophisticated tunnel leading to the city's drains.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Mexican Marines detain a man during an operation to capture Guzman in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, in this still image taken from a January 8, 2016 video released by the Mexican Navy on January 11.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Blood stains are visible on the floor next to a plate bearing the house number of a safe house, where five people were shot dead during an operation on Friday to recapture "El Chapo" Guzman, at Jiquilpan Boulevard in Los Mochis in Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 11.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Some of the firearms confiscated inside Guzman's house in Sinaloa, Mexico, after his capture on January 8, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
DVDs of a telenovela TV series, "The Queen of the South," are seen on the sheets of a bed inside a safe house on January 8, 2016 at Jiquilpan Boulevard in Los Mochis in Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 11.
The telenovela is the story of a young female drug kingpin, played by Kate del Castillo. Castillo was handpicked by Guzman to help make his biopic come to life and coordinated the meeting with Sean Penn.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
A view of the kitchen of a safe house after an operation on January 8, 2016, to recapture El Chapo, at Jiquilpan Boulevard in Los Mochis in Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 11.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
One of El Chapo's dead henchmen at the safe house.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Bullet holes are seen on a wall of a safe house, where five people were shot dead during an operation on January 8, 2016 to recapture El Chapo at Jiquilpan Boulevard in Los Mochis, in Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 11, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
A view of a stair at a house that was used by Guzman to escape to the city's drains before he was recaptured, is pictured in Los Mochis, in Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 11, 2016.
El Chapo entered the sewer system through a manhole. It took those chasing him 90 minutes to to locate the passageway and give chase.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
A view of a tunnel connected from a house to the city's drains used by El Chapo to escape in Los Mochis in Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 11, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
A soldier tries pull out a weapon found in a drain from where Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped before being captured at Jiquilpan Boulevard in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 9, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Soldiers stand outside a safe house, where five people were shot dead during an operation on January 8, 2016 to recapture the world's top drug lord El Chapo, at Jiquilpan Boulevard in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 9, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
One of the cars used by drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to escape before he was recaptured on January 8, 2016 is pictured inside a car impound lot in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 10. Mexican authorities reported that Guzman and another man stole a car once out of the tunnels. They were spotted on a highway near the city and detained.
The writing on the windshield reads "Do not touch."
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Caps are seen inside one of the cars used by drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to escape before he was recaptured on January 8, 2016, at a car impound lot in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 10, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
El Chapo, in a filthy undershirt after his sewer escape, is seen here after being taken into custody on January 8, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
El Chapo is seen here in handcuffs after being taken into custody on January 8, 2016 and detained in a motel, after nearly six months on the run following his second prison escape.
Guzman vanished from his cell late July 11, 2015 even though he was wearing a monitoring bracelet and surveillance cameras were trained on the room 24 hours a day, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
A cameraman films next to a weapon found in a drain from where Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped before being captured at Jiquilpan Boulevard in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 9, 2016.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
A soldier mans his machine gun atop an armored vehicle in a checkpoint at the hometown of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in the municipality of Badiraguato, Sinaloa state, Mexico, January 9, 2016.
Mexico's government had offered a $3.8 million reward for the capture of "El Chapo" Guzman and sacked top prison officials amid suspicions that guards helped him escape.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Recaptured drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted by soldiers at the hangar belonging to the office of the Attorney General in Mexico City, January 8, 2016
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Soldiers escort drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman into a helicopter during a presentation to the media in Mexico City, January 8, 2016.
"El Chapo" mugshot
El Chapo's mugshot after he was recaptured.
"El Chapo" in prison
Mexican media are reporting that this is undated photo is of El Chapo in a jail cell.
The Mexican prison officials in charge of preventingJoaquin "El Chapo" Guzman from escaping incarceration for a third time are taking extreme measures, according to a report in the El Universal newspaper. Those measures include moving him to different cells, deploying sniffer dogs trained to detect El Chapo's scent and reinforced floors with steel.
Recapturing "El Chapo"
Juan Pablo Badillo, a lawyer representing drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, shows reporters an injunction against extradition to the United States, outside the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary, where Guzman is imprisoned in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, January 9, 2016.
Altiplano Federal Penitentiary
Residents walk by the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary, where drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is imprisoned, in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, January 10, 2016.
Guzman escaped from the very same maximum security prison nearly six months earlier.