Lucio R. Borderland Beat Material from ABC News, Milenio and El Universal
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The controversy is not over for the Mexico-US actress Kate del Castillo.
In January, Mexican newspapers revealed that investigations by authorities indicated that the Castillo, the owner of "Honor" brand tequila , based in the U.S. state of Delaware. Also communications between Castillo and Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, revealed that Chapo wanted to do business with the actress.
The respected Mexican newspaper, El Universal reported having access to documents showing that El Chapo poured money into Castillo’s company. The company is a limited liability company established on September 10, 2014 under the registration number 5601359.
Prosecutors have ordered that actress Kate del Castillo be located and brought in for questioning about her encounters with drug cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mexican officials said Thursday.
Authorities have been seeking to interview del Castillo for an investigation of possible money-laundering involving Guzman and the actress' tequila business, after last month's revelation that she helped broker a meeting between the capo and actor Sean Penn. She has not been accused of any crime.
Two security officials confirmed that federal prosecutors issued the order because the movie and telenovela star did not voluntarily appear before authorities to give a statement as requested. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The officials said the order applies only to Mexican territory and added that if del Castillo were found to be in the country, she would be detained to make a statement as a witness and then released after doing so.
Del Castillo, a naturalized U.S. citizen who has lived for years in Los Angeles, recently asked a court for an injunction barring Mexican authorities from detaining her, although the judge asked her lawyers for more specifics before proceeding with the case.
The actress' publicist did not immediately reply to messages seeking comment Thursday. Del Castillo has not responded to multiple AP requests for comment in recent weeks, but she posted a tweet in mid-January saying many people were making up "items they think will make good stories and that aren't truthful."
Mexican authorities’ wants to pressure the actress to travel to Mexico as a witness. She ignored an earlier request to appear voluntarily, Mexico’s Attorney General Arely Gomez told reporters on Thursday.
Castillo’s attorney issued a brief statement to AP on Thursday, "Obviously if they want to talk to her, they can come here, through the US government, and she'll be happy to talk," said Harland Braun, del Castillo's US attorney.
"If the Mexican government wants to talk to her, they can call the US government and the US government arranges it" he concluded.