New 'El Chapo' prison mugshot showd how diminutive drugs kingpin has been cut down to size

 

Get shorty: Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's new mugshot released by the Mexican Prison Authority today

Showing just why he is nicknamed Shorty, the world’s most powerful drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman poses for a new prison mugshot after being recaptured.
Standing at just over 5ft 4ins (165cm) tall, the head of the ruthless Sinaloa cartel also had his hair cut down to size after prison guards shaved his head and moustache on his return to jail.
Guzman, whose nickname El Chapo means shorty in Spanish, was arrested on Friday in a raid in his home state of Sinaloa, six months after he was sprung from a maximum security prison.
When he was paraded before TV cameras he had a full head of hair and a thick moustache.
On Saturday he was returned to the Altiplano jail - 55 miles west of Mexico City - from where he carried out his audacious escape through a mile-long tunnel from his cell in July.

Since then, the Mexican authorities have increased security around him reinforcing floors with a web of steel rods coated with cement, installed electronic locks and added more security cameras to monitor his movements.
His mugshot emerged as Mexican officials continue their investigation into Hollywood star Sean Penn , who travelled to Mexico to interview Guzman while he was on the run.

The actor, 56, flew to a remote jungle compund in October to interview the then fugitive for a Rolling Stone magazine article and has since faced a barrage of criticism for not informing officials of his location.

 

Changing face: El Chapo in 2014

 

Shaved: El Chapo's mugshot released following his escape in 2015

Penn has dismissed criticism of his interview, however, defending his actions by saying Guzman and his men were "not to be f **** d with".
US President Barack Obama sidestepped the controversy today, refusing to be drawn on Penn's interview with El Chapo.
Speaking to Today Show's Matt Lauer at the White House, ahead the President’s final State of the Union speech, Mr Obama praised the Mexican government for recapturing Guzman.
However he sidestepped the question when asked directly about Penn.

Interview: Sean Penn shaking hands with El Chapo

 

“When you saw that picture of them shaking hands, and you read that he spent seven hours interviewing him, what did you make of that?” Lauer asked.
The President replied: “Well first of all I want to thank the Mexican government, because them capturing him, and as we go through an extradition process potentially, he is disabled.

Security: Federal forces patrol the perimeter of the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary

“And that affects their ability - the Mexican government's ability - to really crack down on some of the terrible crimes committed by these narco traffickers.
“Now in terms of how an interview like that gets set up...you're probably in a better position to opine on that.”