New El Chapo video released by Mexican government shows drug kingpin getting his mugshot taken
The footage released on Wednesday shows El Chapo being fingerprinted and blood-tested before authorities question the infamous drug lord.
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The Mexican government has released new footage of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s arrest, three weeks after he was recaptured.
The 19-mintue video released on Wednesday features new footage of the drug kingpin posing for a mugshot, being fingerprinted and blood-tested.
It also shows Guzman at a desk being informed about his extradition to the United States.
Facial comparisons show present-day Guzman completely shaven compared to his first arrest in 1993.
The video heavily focuses on Guzman’s escape in July from a maximum security prison and recreates it using slick animations - the full video can be viewed below.
According to a source in the attorney general’s office, the video serves “an exercise in transparency” but Vice News reports that a security expert calls it “little more than propaganda”.
On 8 January, Guzman was recaptured in northwest Mexico and an “essential” factor in his arrest was the drug lord’s meeting with Hollywood star Sean Penn.
The actor has defended himself after widespread criticism over his Rolling Stone interview with Guzman, saying that he had been trying to kickstart a conversation about the double standards of “the war on drugs”.
In an interview with CBS, Penn said “My article failed. Let me be clear. My article has failed.”
Authorities have said they were able to trace the fugitive because he wanted to film a biopic.
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