New York: US actor Sean Penn secretly interviewed Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman before the Mexican drug kingpin’s recapture for an article that appeared Saturday in Rolling Stone magazine.

The story, available online, was published just one day after the world’s most wanted drug lord was arrested following a deadly military raid in Los Mochis, a coastal city in his native north-western state of Sinaloa.

Penn said he travelled to the Mexican jungle in October to conduct the ‘seven-hour sit-down’ with the capo, whom he followed up with in subsequent phone and video interviews.

A federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity told AFP Saturday that the meeting helped lead to Guzman’s recapture.

Mexican authorities have announced that they will begin the process of extraditing Guzman to the United States, with his lawyer vowing a tough legal battle.