MEXICO CITY – Mexican authorities have arrested a 14-year-old boy nicknamed “El Chapito” for the drug-related killings of eight people near Mexico City, the federal Department of Public Safety said Thursday. The boy allegedly rode a motorcycle and opened fire on a family in the low-income Mexico City suburb of Chimalhuacan.
On January 22, one more person was arrested in connection with the murder, and seven members of the gang were arrested on drug charges.
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The victims were having a party at their home when the attack left five adults and two children injured. It was said to be a birthday party.
The boy’s name has not been released, but his nickname – “Little Chapo” – is a clear reference to the jailed drug lord. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. El Chapo is serving a life sentence in a “supermax” maximum security prison in Colorado 2019 Confirmation On charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and arms-related crimes.
The motive for the killings was not disclosed, but drug gangs in Mexico are often involved in kidnappings and contract killings. They also kill rivals who sell drugs on their territory or people who owe them money.
Mexico is no stranger to child killers.
In 2010, troops detained a 14-year-old boy nicknamed “El Punchis” who claimed he was kidnapped at age 11 and forced to work for the South Pacific cartel, an offshoot of the splinter Beltran Leyva gang. He said he participated in at least four beheadings.
After his arrest, the boy, whom authorities identified only by his first name, Edgar, told reporters he was high on drugs and threatened to commit crimes.
Also Thursday, prosecutors in the northern border state of Sonora said they had arrested a woman in connection with nine murders in the border city of Mexicali.
The state attorney’s office said the woman had outstanding warrants for two murders, but was named in an investigation into seven other murders. The office did not say what the possible motive of the killing could be.
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