--- title: White House ‘Appalled’ By ‘El Chapo’ Heroin Comments description: "El Chapo" said he supplies more heroin "than anybody else in the world" canonical: https://time.com/4174399/el-chapo-white-house/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-11T12:50:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:04:49.135Z article:section: World og:title: White House ‘Appalled’ By ‘El Chapo’ Heroin Comments og:description: "El Chapo" said he supplies more heroin "than anybody else in the world" og:url: https://time.com/4174399/el-chapo-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68af27ebd78a26be/698878693c16396ecb45b7e9/aptopix-mexico-drug-l_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: APTOPIX Mexico Drug Lord og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House ‘Appalled’ By ‘El Chapo’ Heroin Comments twitter:description: "El Chapo" said he supplies more heroin "than anybody else in the world" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68af27ebd78a26be/698878693c16396ecb45b7e9/aptopix-mexico-drug-l_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Official ‘Appalled’ By ‘El Chapo’ Heroin Comments in Interview  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 11, 2016 12:50 PM CUT  Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (r.) is escorted by soldiers and marines to a waiting helicopter, at a federal hangar in Mexico City on Jan. 8, 2016. Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (r.) is escorted by soldiers and marines to a waiting helicopter, at a federal hangar in Mexico City on Jan. 8, 2016.Marco Ugarte—AP  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 11, 2016 12:50 PM CUT A top White House official said Sunday [he was “appalled” by boastful comments](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-chief-staff-appalled-el-chapo-guzmans/story?id=36187319 "undefined") Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loer made in a _Rolling Stone_ interview about being the world’s biggest supplier of drugs. The Mexican drug kingpin bragged about his empire in a [secret interview with Sean Penn for the magazine](http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/el-chapo-speaks-20160109 "undefined"), telling the Hollywood star: “I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world.” “I was appalled by his bragging … about an epidemic that’s sweeping this country on heroin addiction,” White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week.” “I was appalled by his bragging to the interviewers in _Rolling Stone_ that he moves more heroin than anyone in the world.” McDonough also told [Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union”](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/10/politics/el-chapo-white-house-response/ "undefined") that the comments were “maddening.” “We see a heroin epidemic, opioid addiction epidemic in this country,” he said. “So, we’re going to stay on top of this, with our Mexican counterparts, until we get that back in the box. ” Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was recaptured on Friday after a months-long international manhunt following his escaping from a maximum-security prison. He was on the lam during the interview, which was published Saturday on _Rolling Stone_’s website. Mexican officials on Sunday formally launched the process to extradite the notorious drug lord to the U.S., [according to the _Associated Press_](http://time.com/4174737/mexico-el-chapo-joaquin-guzman-extradition/?xid=homepage "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4174399/el-chapo-white-house/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4174399/el-chapo-white-house/"},"headline":"White House Official ‘Appalled’ By ‘El Chapo’ Heroin Comments in Interview","datePublished":"2016-01-11T12:50:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:04:49.135Z","description":"\"El Chapo\" said he supplies more heroin \"than anybody else in the world\"","url":"https://time.com/4174399/el-chapo-white-house/","keywords":["Crime","White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68af27ebd78a26be/698878693c16396ecb45b7e9/aptopix-mexico-drug-l_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68af27ebd78a26be/698878693c16396ecb45b7e9/aptopix-mexico-drug-l_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"APTOPIX Mexico Drug Lord","caption":"Mexican drug lord Joaquin \"El Chapo\" Guzman (r.) is escorted by soldiers and marines to a waiting helicopter, at a federal hangar in Mexico City on Jan. 8, 2016.","creditText":"Marco Ugarte—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4174399/el-chapo-white-house/","name":"White House Official ‘Appalled’ By ‘El Chapo’ Heroin Comments in Interview"}}]}] ```