(CNN) Three months after drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped from prison, he met actor Sean Penn for a secret interview in a mountainous Mexican jungle.

Mexican forces arrested Guzman on Friday after a shootout that ended his freedom following his brazen prison escape in July.

In Penn's article, published in Rolling Stone on Saturday , Guzman touted his drug trade, saying he "supplies more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world."

Penn met Guzman in person in October. It was a sit-down meeting that started with a warm hug and lasted seven hours.

"He pulls me into a 'compadre' hug, looks me in the eyes and speaks a lengthy greeting in Spanish too fast for my ears," Penn wrote of their first encounter.

During that meeting, the drug lord agreed to another interview at a later time, Rolling Stone reported. A face-to-face followup interview was not possible, but Penn interviewed Guzman through messaging and video.

Tequila and pressed jeans

The article describes a man on the run who appeared anything but, as he sipped tequila in a "casual patterned silk shirt and pressed black jeans."

Sean Penn recounts his secret visit with El Chapo, months before the drug lord's recapture https://t.co/OnaRMVr1tv pic.twitter.com/A0WGY6xFpj — Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) January 10, 2016

His face beaming and looking "remarkably well-groomed" for a prison escapee, Penn said, Guzman bragged about the intricate nature of his drug empire, the Sinaloa cartel.

"I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats," he told Penn.

The interview added another twist to the surreal life of the two-time prison escapee. And the latest escape in July, Guzman told Penn, was a well-planned operation.

During that escape, Guzman vanished through a hole in his shower and into a tunnel, then to a small plane that flew him to freedom, Mexican Attorney General Arely Gomez Gonzalez said

Photos: Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's 2015 escape Photos: Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's 2015 escape Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was considered the world's most powerful drug lord until his arrest in Mexico in February 2014. He escaped from a maximum-security prison on July 11, 2015. Hide Caption 1 of 6 Photos: Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's 2015 escape This screen grab of security video, dated July 11 and released by Mexico's National Security Commission, shows Guzman inside his cell at the Altiplano prison in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico. He is looking at the shower floor shortly before escaping through a tunnel below, authorities said. Hide Caption 2 of 6 Photos: Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's 2015 escape A journalist climbs a ladder to get out of the tunnel that authorities say Guzman used to escape. Hide Caption 3 of 6 Photos: Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's 2015 escape Journalists exit the tunnel on Tuesday, July 14. Hide Caption 4 of 6 Photos: Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's 2015 escape Yellow police tape surrounds the construction site where the exit of the tunnel is located. Hide Caption 5 of 6 Photos: Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's 2015 escape Federal police guard a drainage pipe outside of the prison on Sunday, July 12. Hide Caption 6 of 6

The engineers who built the tunnel were flown to Germany for specialized training, Penn said. A motorcycle on rails inside the tunnel was adjusted to run in an environment with limited oxygen, he said.

While Penn does not give the specific location of the interview, he said it was conducted in Mexico.

Guzman was recaptured early Friday when the Mexican navy raided a home in the coastal city of Los Mochis, where he was protected by many local residents who revered him as a modern Robin Hood.

Not blindfolded

In the article, Penn mused about the fact that he was not blindfolded while going to meet the drug lord.

But he also highlighted the extraordinary measures taken to protect Guzman, including flying Penn and his team aboard a plane that had a device that jams radar and ensuring they did not have their phones.

That night, after a few hours of talking, Guzman and his protectors strapped on body armor and brought out the weapons.

Penn said the interview was planned by Kate del Castillo, a Mexican actress who supported Guzman. The drug lord wanted the actress's help in spearheading a movie project about his life.

Del Castillo has not commented since the publication of the article. Authorities want to question Penn and del Castillo, a senior Mexican law enforcement official said.

Tracking cell phones

Questions have swirled over what role, if any, the interview had on his arrest Friday.

Before the interview came to light, two U.S. law enforcement officials had said tracking of cell phones and electronic exchanges among people close to Guzman was critical in his recapture.

Mexican authorities said they captured Guzman partly because he or his representatives contacted filmmakers and actors about making his biopic.

It's unclear whether authorities were referring to Penn and del Castillo.

His thoughts on Donald Trump

Penn said he and Guzman discussed various topics, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, whom Guzman referred to as "mi amigo." Trump has been highly critical of illegal migration of Mexicans to the United States.

Guzman also defended his drug business, saying the Mexican economy and lack of jobs left him with no choice.

On the topic of his own mortality, he said he hoped to die of "natural causes," not in a shootout.

Back to the same prison

After six months on the run, Guzman is now back in the same maximum security prison from which he escaped, a Mexican law enforcement official said.

And the Sinaloa cartel leader may be extradited to the United States , where he faces drug trafficking charges.

Interpol agents served extradition paperwork Sunday in the prison where Guzman is being held, the Mexican attorney general's office said.

The process could take months, and he would have the right to appeal.

Guzman is included in at least seven drug-related indictments in various U.S. jurisdictions. The United States had sought his extradition in June before he escaped, Gomez said.

Guzman's lawyers have filed documents to fight extradition.

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History of prison escapes

Guzman's July prison escape -- his second in 14 years -- embarrassed the Mexican government.

Authorities first arrested Guzman in Guatemala in 1993 and extradited him to Mexico. After his conviction, he escaped from a maximum security prison in 2001, using a laundry cart, and evaded Mexican authorities for years.

His freedom ended in 2014, when he was arrested in the Mexican resort town of Mazatlan

In the latest hunt for Guzman, there were reported sightings and near-misses.

In October, the same month Penn interviewed him, authorities said they almost caught him but he slipped away.