sean penn

Sean Penn speaks during a forum with young entrepreneurs during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Lima, Peru, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. Penn is on hand to participate in an event aimed at young business people. World Bank President Jim Young Kim and Allen Blue, co-founder of LinkedIn, will also take part in the youth meeting.

(AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

MEXICO CITY -- Recaptured drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's secret interview with U.S. actor Sean Penn helped authorities locate his whereabouts, a Mexican law enforcement official said late Saturday.

The world's most wanted drug trafficker was arrested early Friday after a shootout in Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa, six months after he embarrassed the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto by escaping Mexico's most-secure prison. Five people were killed during the operation that led to the recapture of Guzman, who has twice escaped from prison.

Mexico Attorney General Arely Gomez said Friday that Guzman's contact with actors and producers for a possible biopic helped give law enforcement a new lead on tracking and capturing the world's most notorious drug kingpin.

On Saturday, a Mexican official said it was the Penn interview that led authorities to Guzman in a rural part of Durango state in October. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to comment. Authorities aborted their raid at the time because he was with two women and a child. But they were able to track him to Los Mochis, where he was captured.

The interview between Guzman and Penn, purportedly held in late 2015 in a hideout in Mexico, appeared late Saturday on the website of Rolling Stone magazine.

In it, the actor describes the complicated security measures he took to meet the drug lord. The men discuss topics ranging from drug trafficking to the Middle East.

When asked about whether he is responsible for the high level of drug addiction in the world, Guzman purportedly responds: "No, that is false, because the day I don't exist, it's not going to decrease in any way at all. Drug trafficking? That's false."

The magazine says the meeting was brokered by Mexican actress Kate del Castillo. Its website has a two-minute video it claims is the first-ever exclusive interview with Guzman. It is in Spanish and in it Guzman sits in front of a chain link face and speaks to a camera. He is wearing a print blue shirt and dark baseball cap, but his face is clearly visible. Accompanying the article is a picture of Penn shaking hands with Guzman.

When asked who is to blame for drug trafficking, Guzman says: "If there was no consumption, there would be no sales. It is true that consumption, day after day, becomes bigger and bigger. So it sells and sells."

Earlier Saturday, a federal law enforcement official said that Mexico is willing to extradite Guzman to the United States, a sharp reversal from the official position after his last capture in 2014.

"Mexico is ready. There are plans to cooperate with the U.S.," said the Mexican official, who spoke on condition anonymity because he wasn't authorized to comment.

But he cautioned that there could be a lengthy wait before U.S. prosecutors can get their hands on Guzman. "You have to go through the judicial process, and the defense has its elements too," he said.

-- The Associated Press

This post has been updated with new details.