14-year-old suspected to decapitate four

14-year-old suspected to decapitate four

The skinny boy in a long-sleeved T-shirt and cargo pants looks younger than his 14 years as he stands surrounded by three Mexican soldiers in ski masks and camouflage, armed with automatic rifles, the Associated Press has reported. Authorities say the curly-haired teenager, a U.S. citizen, is the alleged child assassin, "El Ponchis," made famous in a YouTube video a month ago — and that he deserved a captured capo's escort when he was picked up Thursday night. El Ponchis told reporters on Friday that 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, the news agency said. He was detained with his 16-year-old sister at an airport near Cuernavaca in Morelos state with a paid tickets to flee the country and carrying two cell phones with photographs of tortured victims. "I participated in four executions, but I did it drugged and under threat that if I didn't, they would kill me," the boy told reporters calmly when he was handed over to the federal prosecutor Friday morning, showing no remorse. A 16-year-old sister detained with him says 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. The two allegedly worked for Julio "El Negro" Padilla, who has been fighting for control of the drug trade in Morelos since the leader of the Beltran Leyva gang, Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed by Mexican marines a year ago. The battle against another remnant of the gang, once headed by Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez — another U.S. citizen detained in August — has caused an unprecedented spike in violence in Morelos just south of Mexico City, and in neighboring Guerrero state, where the resort of Acapulco is located. 4명을 참수했다는 멕시코 14살 갱단원 검거 멕시코에서 적어도 4명을 살해해 사법 당국의 집중적인 추적을 받아왔던 14살짜리 '살인청부업자'가 체포됐다. 5일(한국시간) AP 통신은 멕시코 군(軍)은 살인청부업자로 일하는 일명 엘 폰치스로 불리는 마약 갱단 '파시피코 수르'의 조직원인 에드가르 히메네스를 중부 모렐로스주(州) 테믹스코 공항에서 붙잡았다고 보도했다. 군 당국은 공항에서 누나와 함께 티후아나행 비행기를 타려던 히메네스를 체포했으며, 소년은 이곳을 거쳐 고향인 미국 샌디에이고에 사는 계모를 만나려 국경을 넘어가려 했다고 설명했다. 멕시코와 미국 이중국적자인 히메네스는 붙잡힌 뒤 일부 혐의를 인정하면서 "네 명을 죽여 참수했다. 그런 짓을 했을 때 불쾌감을 느꼈다"며 "나는 마약에 취해 있었으며 갱단이 그것을 하지 않으면 나를 죽인다고 했다"며 강요와 협박에 의한 살인임을 주장했다. 군 당국은 히메네스가 마약 조직의 리더로서 적어도 4명을 살해한 것을 인정했다고 밝혔다. 올 8월 그가 범행에 가담한 것으로 보이는 목 없는 시신 여러 구가 수도 멕시코시티와 쿠에르나바카 간 고속도로 교각에 내걸린 엽기적 사건이 발생한 바 있다. 히메네스는 11살에 갱단에 가입해 살인 한 건당 보수로 3000달러를 받은 것으로 알려졌으며 최근에는 인터넷 동영상사이트에 그가 한 남자를 몽둥이로 때리고, 고문하는 모습이 올라와 충격을 준 바 있다. 한편 멕시코에서는 18세 미만의 범죄자들은 별도의 법률 시스템에 의해 기소될 수 있다.