CUERNAVACA, Mexico, (Reuters) – Mexican soldiers captured a 14-year-old U.S. citizen suspected of being a drug gang hitman as he attempted to travel to the United States.
Edgar Jimenez, known as “El Ponchis,” worked for the South Pacific drug cartel in Morelos state, outside Mexico City, the army said on Friday.
The boy was caught late on Thursday as he boarded a plane in the city of Cuernavaca in Morelos. He was traveling to the border city of Tijuana across from San Diego, California, with two of his sisters, one of whom is believed to be the lover of one of the cartel’s bosses, the army said.
The three Jimenez siblings reportedly had wanted to cross to San Diego, where they have relatives.
“El Ponchis” made headlines last month as reports of his grizzly murders, including beheadings, surfaced. He acknowledged having killed at least seven people and the influence of drugs provided by a cartel leader, according to the army statement. It was not immediately clear what his nickname refers to.
Speaking about the murders, Jimenez said: “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,” Jimenez was quoted as saying in Reforma newspaper.
