Mexico arrests 14-year-old 'drug hitman'
The Mexican army has arrested a 14-
year-old boy on suspicion of being a
hired killer for a drug cartel.
Officials said Edgar Jimenez, nicknamed
El Ponchis, had been trying to catch a
plane from Cuernavaca to the US with
two of his sisters.
The military alleges that he took part in a
number of beheadings under the influence
of drugs supplied by the cartel.
Thousands have died in drug-related
violence in Mexico in recent years.
The teenager is believed to have worked
for the South Pacific drug cartel in
Morelos state outside Mexico City, the
army said.
An unnamed army official told AP news
agency that Edgar Jimenez had admitted
taking part in four murders, but had said
he had been drugged and threatened with
death if he did not participate.
The army source said one of the
teenager's sisters was accused of
disposing of the bodies, AP reports. No
charges have yet been filed.
Surge in violence
The Reforma newspaper quoted Edgar
Jimenez as saying: "I felt bad doing it. I
was forced to do it. They said they would
kill me if I didn't do it.
"I only beheaded them, but never hung
[bodies] from bridges, never," he said,
according to the newspaper.
Hanging bodies from bridges at busy
intersections is a practice among Mexican
cartels as a way to intimidate rivals.
State officials say that crimes committed
by minors, including murders for cartels,
have risen across the country this year.
The South Pacific gang is run by Hector
Beltran Leyva, brother of Arturo Beltran
Leyva, a top drug lord who was killed by
Mexican troops a year ago.
Hector Beltran Leyva's fight for control
has caused a surge in violence in the
states of Morelos, just south of Mexico
City, and neighbouring Guerrero.
More than 28,000 people have died in
drug-related violence since President
Felipe Calderon began deploying troops
to fight the cartels in late 2006.