Movie Project Led to Drug Lord's Recapture

Being on the run as the world's most wanted drug lord apparently wasn't enough fame for Joaquin Guzman: Authorities in Mexico, where "El Chapo" was recaptured on Friday, say they were able to track him down because he wanted to make a biopic about his life and his people had contacted actors and producers about the project, the Guardian reports. Attorney General Arely Gómez says Guzman—whose daring prison break six months ago would presumably have been a big part of the biopic—was captured in the town of Los Mochis in his native Sinaloa state with the help of investigators who had been watching his lawyers. In other developments:

• Gomez says that for now, Guzman is being returned to the Altiplano maximum-security prison that he escaped from in July, the AP reports. He escaped from another prison in 2001.

• Authorities say Guzman was recaptured in the coastal town early Friday after a firefight with Mexican Navy marines that killed five of his bodyguards and injured one marine, CNN reports. He escaped through tunnels—as he has done many times before—and managed to steal a car before he was stopped on a highway outside of town, authorities say.
• In the US, the Drug Enforcement Administration praised the capture, which many thought would never happen, as a "victory for the rule of law" and a "significant achievement" in the shared fight against drug trafficking, the Los Angeles Times reports. The DEA and Mexico will "continue to work together to respond to the evolving threats posed by transnational criminal organizations," the agency said in a statement.
• The US does, however, want to see Guzman in an American prison instead of a Mexican one this time and there have been calls for immediate extradition, the AP reports. "Given that 'El Chapo' has already escaped from Mexican prison twice, this third opportunity to bring him to justice cannot be squandered," said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
• Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto called the recapture a sign that Mexicans can trust national institutions and the rule of law, though experts tell NBC that the president will probably sign off on extradition to avoid the potential humiliation of having Guzman escape once again.

(More Joaquin Guzman stories.)