Actress who met ‘El Chapo’ asks Mexican authorities to close investigation

The actress Kate del Castillo, accused of obstructing justice after meeting Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has asked prosecutors to drop an investigation against her, her lawyer said Tuesday.

The Mexican actress, who filed papers seeking a court injunction demanding prosecutors “either charge her with a crime or close the criminal investigation” has not been allowed to access documents in the probe, lawyer Harland Braun said in a statement.

“We only know that she is being accused of obstruction of justice and money laundering because the Attorney General’s office was forced to inform a federal judge of the accusations through a constitutional injunction,” he said.

The authorities opened the investigation after del Castillo and Oscar-winning American actor Sean Penn met the boss of the Sinaloa cartel in his mountain hideout in October 2015, when he was a fugitive after his second escape from a maximum security prison.

The meeting — to discuss making a film about Guzman’s life — was made public in January in a Rolling Stone article by Penn.

Guzman he was re-arrested soon after in his native Sinaloa after the meeting inadvertently helped lead the authorities to his hideout.

He had staged a spectacular jailbreak last year, becoming the world’s most-wanted drug lord until his recapture. He is currently being held in a federal prison in the northern city of Ciudad Juarez as his lawyers fight the Mexican government’s decision to extradite him to the United States.

He is wanted in Texas and California on charges including homicide, drug trafficking and money laundering.

“Kate has consistently made clear that her only goal was to produce an artistic and journalistic project of Guzman’s life story and turn it into a compelling and informative film project that would help Mexicans and Americans understand the deadly business of the drug cartels,” Braun said.

The actors said at the time that Guzman, who wanted to make the film, organized the meeting with del Castillo, who in turn contacted Penn.

“Regardless of what comes next, Kate is committed to completing the film project for which she has already committed so much of her time,” Braun said.