The skinny, American-born 14-year-old boy looked like he should be in middle school. Instead he was surrounded by three armed Mexican soldiers in ski masks and camouflage as he told AP reporters that he helped a Mexican drug gang behead four people. Mexican officials say they arrested the youth known as “El Ponchis” late Thursday at an airport south of Mexico City with a 19-year-old sister who is accused of helping him dump the bodies. Authorities said he was caught with two cell phones that held photographs of tortured victims. Read the full story after the jump…
@wendyKlucas
Many youths have been used by drug cartels in their bloody battles against the government and each other, but the story of El Ponchis may be the most shocking. A YouTube video that emerged a month ago sparked talk of a child hit man – said by some to be as young as 12.
“I participated in four executions, but I did it drugged and under threat that if I didn’t, they would kill me,” the boy said calmly when he was handed over to the federal prosecutor Friday morning, showing no remorse.
Authorities identified the curly-haired suspect by his first name only – Edgar.
He told reporters early Friday he was kidnapped at the age of 11 and forced to work for the Cartel of the South Pacific, a branch of the splintered Beltran Leyva gang, and that he had participated in at least four decapitations.
Authorities said the siblings were detained at an airport near Cuernavaca in Morelos state with paid tickets to flee the country.
Morelos Gov. Marco Adame Castillo said the boy was born in San Diego, California, and Mexican officials were researching whether he has dual nationality. A U.S. Embassy official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to embassy policy said American officials had not yet confirmed his citizenship.
The boy’s sister said they were headed for Tijuana, where they planned to cross the border and seek refuge with their stepmother in San Diego. Their mother sent them money for the tickets, she said, but it was not clear where their parents are.
The army did not say whether the children had passed security when they were detained. Neither has been formally charged.
The two allegedly worked for Julio “El Negro” Padilla, who has been fighting for control of the drug trade in Morelos, formerly part of the territory under the Beltran Leyva gang, which broke up with the killing of leader Arturo Beltran Leyva by Mexican marines a year ago. The battle among remnants of the gang has caused an unprecedented spike in violence in Morelos and in neighboring Guerrero state, where the resort city of Acapulco is located.
El Ponchis’ sister said she was the girlfriend of Padilla and part of a group of girls called Las Chabelas, who helped dump bodies on streets and freeways in and around Cuernavaca, a city about 56 miles (90 kilometers) south of Mexico City. She said her brother introduced them.
An adult sister picked up at the airport appeared with the two Friday, but authorities said she has no ties to drug trafficking.
Stories of a hit boy, maybe as young as 12, spread after a YouTube video appeared last month with teens mugging for the camera next to corpses and guns. One boy on the video alleged that “El Ponchis” was his accomplice. State and federal authorities refused to confirm El Ponchis even existed.
In the video, the youth told an unseen questioner that his gang was paid $3,000 per killing.
“When we don’t find the rivals, we kill innocent people, maybe a construction worker or a taxi driver,” the youth is heard saying.
Figures obtained by The Associated Press from Mexico’s attorney general’s office show that the number of youths 18 and under detained for drug-related crimes has climbed steadily since President Felipe Calderon launched his assault on cartels in 2006. There were 482 that year and 810 in 2009. There were 562 in the first eight months of this year, on track to surpass last year.
Calderon has acknowledged that “in the most violent areas of the country, there is an unending recruitment of young people without hope, without opportunities.”
The federal government has said the cartels are recruiting ever younger assassins to replace those killed or arrested in the current wars among the gangs and with the government. The government also has said that cartels prefer underage youths because they shorter sentences if caught.
Unlike the United States, Mexico has no system for trying juveniles as adults, though a bill that would establish such a provision is before the Mexican Senate. In Mexico, juveniles are sentenced to youth detention centers and are freed at age 18.
Although state courts handle crimes by juveniles in Mexico, authorities in Morelos have asked Mexico’s federal government to take over the case because of the gravity of the crimes.
Neighbors said the siblings were living in a cartel safehouse in a poor neighborhood of Jiutepec, a working-class suburb of Cuernavaca. The area has an industrial area with Nissan, Unilever and other factories, rustic single-level concrete homes and some farms.
A deposit of $50 or more will qualify for a $200 credit to play across all
casino games.
If the face-up card is an ace, then the dealer peaks at his down card (the hole card).
If you want to play big, Caesar’s initial deposit match bonus is a showstopper at
up to $1250.
2WGEbF tdnluutiveaq, [url=http://jgbvqtzgswdg.com/]jgbvqtzgswdg[/url], [link=http://zvafqbrngkef.com/]zvafqbrngkef[/link], http://ewzbtulnctio.com/
buying from online mexican pharmacy: Mexican Pharmacy Online – purple pharmacy mexico price list
reputable indian online pharmacy https://indiaph24.store/# indianpharmacy com
Online medicine home delivery
http://indiaph24.store/# mail order pharmacy india
india online pharmacy buy medicines from India п»їlegitimate online pharmacies india
http://mexicoph24.life/# buying prescription drugs in mexico
mexico pharmacy mexican pharmacy mexico pharmacies prescription drugs
cheap propecia without a prescription: cost of propecia tablets – cost of cheap propecia tablets
tamoxifen for sale tamoxifen effectiveness tamoxifen for gynecomastia reviews
https://nolvadex.life/# nolvadex pct
http://ciprofloxacin.tech/# cipro pharmacy
cytotec abortion pill purchase cytotec cytotec online
aromatase inhibitors tamoxifen tamoxifen bone density nolvadex during cycle
tamoxifen alternatives premenopausal: tamoxifen citrate pct – tamoxifen warning
http://lisinopril.network/# buy lisinopril 20 mg online usa
buy generic propecia prices: get cheap propecia without a prescription – get propecia online
https://lisinopril.network/# lisinopril 12.5 mg price
https://ciprofloxacin.tech/# cipro
zestril 10mg lisinopril 10 mg pill lisinopril otc
buying generic propecia without prescription: buy propecia tablets – order cheap propecia no prescription
https://nolvadex.life/# tamoxifen rash
buy misoprostol over the counter buy cytotec in usa buy misoprostol over the counter
http://finasteride.store/# cost propecia
16 lisinopril lisinopril 40 mg coupon cost for 2 mg lisinopril
cost of propecia no prescription https://finasteride.store/ get propecia without dr prescription
https://lisinopril.network/# lisinopril cost 5mg
nolvadex gynecomastia: tamoxifen and grapefruit – how to prevent hair loss while on tamoxifen
lisinopril 1 mg tablet generic lisinopril 3973 lisinopril 10mg
https://nolvadex.life/# tamoxifen effectiveness
buy cytotec in usa: buy cytotec pills – buy cytotec over the counter
http://nolvadex.life/# tamoxifen hair loss
cost generic propecia without insurance order cheap propecia without a prescription or buy cheap propecia no prescription
http://cse.google.bi/url?sa=t&url=http://finasteride.store cost of propecia tablets
order generic propecia for sale order generic propecia price and buy propecia prices buy propecia prices
http://finasteride.store/# generic propecia without insurance
tamoxifen breast cancer prevention п»їdcis tamoxifen tamoxifen benefits
tamoxifen and bone density nolvadex for sale amazon nolvadex side effects
lisinopril 5 mg tablet: lisinopril 60 mg – lisinopril price
http://finasteride.store/# get cheap propecia tablets
does tamoxifen cause weight loss what happens when you stop taking tamoxifen tamoxifen bone density
zestril 10 mg price in india: lisinopril 20 mg tablet – zestril 5 mg price
https://nolvadex.life/# tamoxifen vs clomid
https://finasteride.store/# get propecia without dr prescription
lisinopril 12.5 mg https://lisinopril.network/ where can i buy zestril
buy cytotec in usa buy misoprostol over the counter п»їcytotec pills online
prices for lisinopril: lisinopril generic 10 mg – lisinopril 20mg buy
cipro pharmacy ciprofloxacin over the counter or buy cipro online
https://cse.google.co.ls/url?q=https://ciprofloxacin.tech buy cipro online
buy cipro cheap where can i buy cipro online and cipro for sale ciprofloxacin 500 mg tablet price
where to get nolvadex tamoxifen cyp2d6 or tamoxifen alternatives premenopausal
https://images.google.dm/url?sa=t&url=https://nolvadex.life buy tamoxifen
tamoxifen therapy tamoxifen for men and tamoxifen hot flashes tamoxifen bone density
https://nolvadex.life/# nolvadex side effects
generic propecia without prescription get propecia without insurance or buying cheap propecia without a prescription
https://hardwareforums.com/proxy.php?link=https://finasteride.store cost propecia without a prescription
buying propecia get cheap propecia without insurance and propecia otc buy generic propecia
http://lisinopril.network/# lisinopril 10mg tablets price
lisinopril 10 mg online lisinopril 12.5 mg price lisinopril tab 5 mg price
Cytotec 200mcg price buy cytotec pills online cheap or cytotec pills buy online
https://www.google.im/url?sa=t&url=https://cytotec.club buy cytotec pills
cytotec online order cytotec online and order cytotec online buy cytotec
nolvadex 20mg tamoxifen buy tamoxifen and grapefruit
tamoxifen brand name: tamoxifen dose – tamoxifen therapy
https://ciprofloxacin.tech/# cipro ciprofloxacin
tamoxifen rash aromatase inhibitors tamoxifen tamoxifen adverse effects
https://lisinopril.network/# cost of lisinopril in mexico
order propecia pills: buy cheap propecia pills – propecia without prescription
https://cytotec.club/# order cytotec online
order propecia tablets: buying cheap propecia online – cheap propecia for sale
http://finasteride.store/# cost cheap propecia no prescription
propecia pills order propecia no prescription buy cheap propecia without rx
cost propecia price cost propecia or order cheap propecia no prescription
https://www.quanlaoda.com/links.php?url=http://finasteride.store home
order generic propecia without insurance order cheap propecia pills and get generic propecia without a prescription cost of generic propecia
https://finasteride.store/# cost of generic propecia without rx
lisinopril 40 mg daily order lisinopril online united states lisinopril tabs 20mg
lisinopril brand name: buy lisinopril 10 mg online – lisinopril 20 12.5 mg
cytotec abortion pill buy cytotec pills online cheap buy cytotec over the counter
http://finasteride.store/# cost cheap propecia without dr prescription
http://nolvadex.life/# tamoxifen and depression
rx lisinopril lisinopril with out prescription lisinopril 2 5 mg tablets
Abortion pills online: buy cytotec over the counter – buy cytotec pills
http://nolvadex.life/# tamoxifen blood clots