How Sean Penn's meet-up with 'El Chapo' gave best press to BlackBerry

When it comes to clandestine meet-ups with drug lords, forget WhatsApp. Turns out BBM is indispensable for interviewing the most wanted fugitive in the world.

Rolling Stone magazine has recently published actor Sean Penn's account of visiting notorious drug kingpin and tunnel expert Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, giving BlackBerry some fine press clippings. Penn met with the Mexican drug lord in a jungle hide-out in October, according to the article.

The 55-year-old actor relied heavily on BlackBerry's proprietary instant messaging service to connect with El Chapo. Penn describes how actress Kate del Castillo makes contact through "a web of BBM devices" and how he eventually sent questions to El Chapo using BBM.

Also read: Sean Penn meets 'Chapo' -- what we know so far.

Even though Penn apparently readily said that he does not know if laptops were still being made anymore, he was able to understand how to work BBM — a testament to the service's simplicity. El Chapo was arrested last week and the authorities have suggested there was a connection between his capture and his meeting with the actor.

Also read: Drug lord 'Chapo' secretly met US actor Sean Penn before capture: Rolling Stone