Recently, a family was the victim of a mass shooting that is believed to be related to drugs. The suspect of the shooting, a fourteen-year-old nicknamed “El Chapito” after the notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, is said to have arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire on the family who were gathering for a birthday party in the low-income Mexico City suburb of Chimalhuacan. Eight people were killed in the shooting, while five adults and two children were wounded, with one of the children being only three years old. The motives behind the attack are unknown, but the suspects are believed to be involved in a gang or drug-related activity.
Along with the teen, another man nicknamed “El Nono” was arrested in connection with the violent attack. Seven more gang members were also charged with drug-related offenses, according to the federal public safety department. The juvenile’s real name was not released, however, “El Chapito” translates to “the little boy” and “El Nono” translates to “the ninth”. He has since been placed in the custody of a specialized control judge in Mexico’s Comprehensive Criminal Justice System for Adolescents.
This story is reminiscent of a 2010 case, in which another fourteen-year-old, known as “El Ponchis”, admitted to participating in at least four decapitations. In 2013, when he was seventeen, he was released from juvenile detention and returned to the United States, where he was born. The gang member claimed he was kidnapped when he was eleven and made to work for the Mexican Cartel of the South Pacific, a branch of the Beltran Leyva gang. This system was established through a constitutional amendment in 2005, providing a framework for justice for juveniles aged between twelve and eighteen who have committed a crime punishable under criminal law. According to this amendment, the institutionalization of minors is considered an extreme measure and is applicable only to those over fourteen years old who have committed a felony.