Apparently, Ms. del Castillo made quite an impression on Mr. Guzmán, the Mexican officials said.

“He had her in his sights as a priority target,” said one of the officials. “We think he had an obsessive interest with her.”

The Mexican official said that according to intelligence gathered by Mexican security services who kept close tabs on meetings held by Mr. Guzmán’s lawyers and Ms. del Castillo, he called her “hermosa,” or “beautiful.”…

Mr. Guzmán, according to the Rolling Stone magazine, took notice of Ms. del Castillo in 2012 after the actress, in an open letter published on her Twitter account, said that she trusted Mr. Guzmán more than she did governments that “hide the cure for cancer, aids, etc, for their own benefit.” She urged “Señor Chapo” to “traffic in love” to end the ills of the world such as diseases and homeless children. If he would do so, she said, Mr. Guzmán would become “the hero of heroes.”