Mexico Claims El Chapo's Interest in Biopic Led to His Arrest

Mexico's most-wanted narco was arrested Friday after a fierce gun battle between the Marines and Guzman's bodyguards.

Drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's negotiations to make a biopic about his life ultimately led to his latest capture, according to authorities.

Mexico's Attorney General Arely Gomez told reporters at a Friday news conference that preproduction meetings between Guzman's attorneys and producers became "a new line of investigation" in determining the whereabouts of the elusive "El Chapo," who busted out of a maximum-security prison last year.

"Another important aspect that allowed [us] to locate him was having discovered the intention of Guzman to shoot a biographical film, for which he established contact with actresses and producers," Gomez said.

Gomez did not reveal the producers names.

Friday's dramatic arrest of Guzman in the northern state of Sinaloa resulted in five deaths and six people injured after a firefight erupted between the drug lord's bodyguards and Marine forces.

Guzman went to great lengths to bust out of a maximum-security prison just six months ago. He has been on the lam since July after he made a prison break through an elaborate tunnel that led from his cell to the free world. The tunnel extended 1,600 yards and was equipped with lighting and oxygen tanks.

His escape, which raised suspicion of government and cartel collusion, was a major embarrassment for the administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto, which has vowed to crack down on drug traffickers. Mexico finds itself in a brutal drug war that has claimed more than 100,000 lives since 2006.

President Pena Nieto took to Twitter after Friday's arrest saying, "Mission accomplished."

Guzman has been the subject of several films. El Chapo, El Escape del Siglo, a low-budget movie about Guzman's prison break, hits Mexican theaters next week.

Also, Fox and Ridley Scott have teamed up to adapt The Cartel, Don Winslow's much-heralded novel that has parallels to El Chapo's escape.