Accused Teen Hit Man

Last Thursday, a 14 year old child was arrested in Mexico City, on suspicion of working as a drug-cartel hit man.The police were able to catch him from an anonymous caller who said he was at the airport. The teen was an orphan, and joined the Pacifico Sur drug cartel at age 12. One of the group's leaders, Julio "El Negro" Padilla, threatened the teen saying that either he works, or gets killed. The teen allegedly killed four people, saying that he slit their throats. When asked if he was aware of his actions when killing, he said he was under the influence of drugs and was unaware of his actions. The teen has a birth certificate from San Diego, California, but his identity and citizenship are under investigation. The teen was paid weekly. Experts say, this is not the first time we will hear of stories involving younger kids killing people and being involved with the drug cartel, because they get paid, or because they think it is cool.

Eighth graders are 14 years old. Sixth graders are 12 years old. I have a really hard time imagining or thinking of a sixth grader going and joining a drug cartel. I have an even harder time thinking of an eighth grader going out and killing people. I understand that the kid was an orphan and, since he wasn't adopted, that he may want/ need some extra cash, but you think he could make the same amount or more money by babysitting or mowing people's yards or something. They didn't say how much he was getting paid, but still doing these jobs must be comparable, not to mention they would be much safer! He is threatened that he has to go kill people, otherwise he will be killed. I just can't see how some people can completely take advantage of kids this way and corrupt their lives. The kid said that he was under the influence of drugs, that means an eighth grader is doing drugs... how sad is that. I don't know much about the drug wars going on in Mexico, and I don't think I want to know some of the details, but I hope police can get at least enough control over it to stop this from happening - stop kids from getting pulled in. I can't picture many kids, if any, thinking that being high on drugs, then going out and killing people is 'cool.' However, I can see them (especially in poverty ridden places around the world) thinking that joining a drug cartel would be an easy way to get some extra money, but not knowing what they are getting themselves into. This needs to stop. This kid may have ruined his life, and he may not even understand why or how. It's the guys behind this kid who persuaded him, and the ones who need to be caught.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/12/05/mexico.teen.hit.man/index.html?hpt=T2