Mexico wants to question Sean Penn over 'El Chapo' Guzman interview

Mexican authorities want to question US actor Sean Penn and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo over their interview with drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, a federal official told AFP on Sunday.

Penn's seven-hour Rolling Stone interview in the middle of Mexican jungle, however, led security forces to discover Guzmán's location, according to The Associated Press.

Three months later, authorities zeroed in on Guzmán and arrested the farmer-turned-billionaire drug lord on Friday in the seaside city of Los Mochis, in his northwestern home state of Sinaloa.

"That is correct, of course, it's to determine responsibilities," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official refused to provide more details about the bid by the attorney general's office to speak with the actors over their clandestine meeting in October with the then-fugitive.

A second federal official said it was unclear whether Penn and del Castillo committed a crime.

While a reporter could interview a drug cartel suspect, "they're not journalists," the official said.

White House chief of staff Denis McDonough would not say whether the US would hand Penn over to Mexico for questioning.

"Well, it poses a lot of very interesting questions both for him and for others involved in this-so-called interview, so we'll see what happens on that - I'm not gonna get ahead of it," McDonough said.