Movie star Sean Penn, drug lord El Chapo and a failed marine raid

The Hollywood actor almost fell into a police trap when he met with the fugitive Mexican over a film deal, reveals new book

He is one of Hollywood's most acclaimed actors, at one time known as much for his hellraising, turbulent marriage and interest in humanitarian causes as for his films. Now it has emerged that Sean Penn's taste for adventure - and a potential movie part - almost led him into a trap that had been set for the notorious Mexican drug smuggler and fugitive Joaquin El Chapo" Guzman.

The tale, recounted in a new book, El Jefe: The Stalking of Chapo Guzman, sheds new light on an international spying operation set up to apprehend the drug lord who was responsible for ordering as many as 200 murders, according to prosecutors.