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on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Sunday, October 21, 2018

Ciudad Juárez prison interview - sicario human sacrifice to Santa Muerte

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat-From Small Wars Journal
"Edgar" in Juárez Cereso
Quite a bit if controversy now exists related to the narco variant of Santa Muerte veneration and worship which is very dark in its spirituality and amoral in nature. This is in contrast to more mainstream forms of Santa Muerte spirituality that are folk religion based within the broader Catholicism paradigm. As a result criticisms have now been made that narco variant perceptions are contrived, biased against the religious conventions of Santa Muerte adherents, or even part of some sort of conspiratorial agenda. Transcripts of a prison interview conducted by two Dutch documentary filmmakers—one of whom is a cultural anthropologist who recently completed his PhD focusing on the Mexican drug war—at VISITA CERESO CD with a Juárez Cartel sicario provides another example of the dark spirituality that the narco variant of Santa Muerte spirituality now represents. – The El Centro Senior Fellows

This interview of “Edgar” was conducted by Voeten and Engels, CeReSo, Ciudad Juárez, October 2016. It is an excerpt from the PhD thesis from Teun Voeten, titled: The Mexican Drug Violence: Hybrid Warfare, Predatory Capitalism and the Logic of Cruelty. 274-276. See also: Maaike Engels and Teun Voeten, Sacrifice. Belgian Canvas TV, 2017.

E
dgar is a young man of twenty-six years, and he is doing a ten-year sentence for illegal possession of firearms and kidnapping. He says he has killed nearly sixty people working as a sicario for the Juárez Cartel, but since there is no proof—he is not sharing the details—he cannot be convicted for these murders.
Edgar was born in Juárez, but his mother separated early from his father and when Edgar was two, they moved to Kansas City. His mother was involved in dealing large quantities of cocaine, which the young Edgar discovers. When she runs into trouble, she has to flee back to Juárez. Edgar, at that age around eleven, is shocked by the poverty and filth of Juárez. His mother starts to work as a hairdresser but they cannot afford the rather comfortable lifestyle they had before. Edgar is a good student at school, but he starts to hang out with ‘bad people’ and gang members. He starts to deal weed and is caught when he is thirteen years old. A juvenile offender, he was still convicted to six months, but managed to pay his way out. At age fourteen, he hangs out with friends and gets into a fight. He hits one of his attackers with a big stone and the boy actually bleeds to death. This is Edgar’s first kill. He says he did not mean to kill the person and runs away from the scene of the fight, feeling afraid, guilty, and nervous at the same time. This unintentional murder will haunt him for half a year. His second murder is a drive by shooting he carries out with a gang. He does not know if his bullets actually killed someone during that drive-by, but there were deaths.

Being in a gang selling drugs, he goes down a slippery slope. He learns shooting from his stepfather, who is a private detective. At one point, he starts to work for the Juárez Cartel as a sicario. He is not too specific as to how he started to work for a cartel. But he says the cartel seeks people out, and it is not people who seek the cartels out. He sees killing strictly as work. He receives orders and he carries them out. Saying no is simply not possible. Still, he does not shift moral responsibility onto the boss, it is still him who carried out the orders, who pulled the trigger. Edgar manages to separate work from private business. ‘I love persons, I kill persons.’ ‘No tiene que estar mezclado. el amor a mi familia es muy diferente a lo que hago’, Don’t mix things. The love for my family is very different from my work.’ He realizes he kills people who have a mother or a wife, even more since he has children himself. Still, he does what he has to do, ‘it is either them or you’.

He talks with professional pride about his work. ‘I do it quickly.’ He does not like to waste many bullets. A few in the body and a final shot in the head. Sometimes they work with teams of two or three people. Edgar says he once stopped an ambulance to finish his victim that had not died. He mentions bystanders and witnesses, in that they are too shocked to absorb what they see or they are too scared to testify. Still, he has an honor code; he never kills women and children. He says other cartels do this, like Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Edgar believes God exists, but says it is not his god. Satan is his God, and he prays to Santa Muerte. Ever since Santa Muerte appeared to him in a dream and gave lifesaving advice, he worships her. Edgar also has a bruja, or a witch, that functions as his personal spiritual adviser. Before a hit, he prays to Santa Muerte that all goes well. ‘I actually sacrifice people for my Santa Muerte. The thing is that I kill for ordering, but I talk to her and say, hey, I go to a job. Just make me hit, I am gonna give you that life, it is for you.’

Santa Muerte actually whispers to him to carry out killings. Edgar is honest and admits he actually enjoys killing. ‘I feel powerful. My god always tell me to do it. I don’t know why, but I could hear, “hey, hey, do it, do it.” I am not crazy, ‘cause I know I ain’t crazy. I still could count I still could eat. I still could sleep’. Edgar admits he has developed an addiction to killing. ‘It gives me a feeling of power. But that moment last only for the moment. There were days that he felt ‘I need to kill somebody. I feel that I need it.’ At the prison, there is an Adictos Anonymous group that handles all sorts of addictions, including addiction to killing.

He compares himself with a soldier. ‘There is a war going on. And if I have to kill to survive, I will kill.’ But he confesses he doesn’t even know himself exactly why he is fighting: ‘I come to the conclusion I don’t know why I am doing this. What I gonna benefit of this. It ain’t my streets, I don’t know why I am fighting this. Is it because of the money? Is it because of the fame? Or is it for me? When I was outside, I asked it too. But I said, well, no worries, you are already in it. No more way out. Keep working and try to survive.’ According to Edgar, he cannot retire. Only if the war finishes you can retire. Whether he will resume working as a sicario once he is out, he cannot say.

The cartels sometimes take care of the community and especially children, he says. ‘They donate money and clothes to children and hand out other benefits.’ He talks with respect and pride about the organization to which he belonged. ‘We are not narcos. We have doctors, we have licenciados, we have police, we have all kind of people working on this. We are not simply gang bangers, we also have judges and computer specialists’.

In 2016, Engels and Voeten made the documentary “Calais: Welcome to the Jungle”, a multilayered documentary on a squalid refugee camp in Northern France. For Canvas TV in Belgium they made ‘Sacrifice’ in 2017 as a short documentary on rituals in the Mexican Drug Violence for which they interviewed sicarios in Ciudad Juárez and Culiacán.

Maaike Engels is a filmmaker and video artist, who works for many international corporate and cultural clients. She is an author as well and contributor to the Dutch prestigious talk show ‘Zomergasten’. In 2016, Engels and Dr. Teun Voeten made the documentary 'Calais: Welcome to the Jungle’, a multilayered documentary on a squalid refugee camp in Northern France. For Canvas TV in Belgium they made ‘Sacrifice’ in 2017 as a short documentary on rituals in the Mexican Drug Violence for which they interviewed sicarios in Ciudad Juárez and Culiacán.

Dr. Teun Voeten is a cultural anthropologist and war photographer. He has written books on the underground homeless in New York and the civil war in Sierra Leone. In 2018, he obtained his PhD at Leiden University on The Mexican Drug Violence. In 2016, Voeten and Maaike Engels made the documentary 'Calais: Welcome to the Jungle’, a multilayered documentary on a squalid refugee camp in Northern France. For Canvas TV in Belgium they made ‘Sacrifice’ in 2017 as a short documentary on rituals in the Mexican Drug Violence for which they interviewed sicarios in Ciudad Juárez and Culiacán.

56 comments:

  1. Wow, Chivis, just Wow.
    How mixed up is that thinking. He is in a war and thinks of himself a warrior but doesn’t think he is working for Narcos ........wonder about his mother and the mother of his children. He can’t talk because he will be killed and he will probably be killed anyway.
    Everyone here should READ : The City Of Crime / La Ciudad de Crimen by Charles Bowden , preferably in espanol if you can, about Ciudad Juárez.

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    1. Like most religions.

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    2. Not worth my time to read his sickness.
      Suggest thorazine for his illness.

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    3. I have been interested in organized crime since I was a kid, have read everything on the subject since the 70s. This young man's attitude towards killing as 'business' is a common thread in organized crime circles worldwide. The difference with Mexico is the enjoyment and abject cruelty of their killing. There have always been hitmen that loved their job, but in Mexico they take it to great extremes. Similarly in 1980s Colombia there were very cruel sicarios, but Mexico has definitely surpassed the Colombian cartels in their savagery and willingness to kill women and children.

      In Mexico it's almost a contest to see who can be the most savage. Like in the Inge/Teo wars or the Juarez war. Bodies skinned alive and hung from bridges.

      When I was last in Mexico about 2010, you could still safely travel in the interior. We traveled by bus, very comfortable with no problems or fear. Now I wouldn't dare.

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  2. And people complain when this kind of satanic subhuman trash gets treated like it (no, “it” is not a mistake) deserves. LMAO.

    But then again, he has already made a choice “Edgar believes God exists, but says it is not his god. Satan is his God“ and he will be rewarded accordingly.

    “And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” - Revelation 14-11

    El Cabrón De Tamaulipas

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    1. The judeochristian god has killed way more people than Satan or Santa muerte. YHVH is a Jewish version of Baal.

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    2. @11:38

      And you will be one of the flies buzzing around Baal (which is a demon * , he doesn’t have anything to do with God) if you keep this up

      “ “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

      So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

      But the people said nothing.

      Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”

      Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

      Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

      Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

      At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

      Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs[a] of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

      “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

      “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

      At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

      Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

      When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

      Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.” - First Book of Kings 18,18-40

      El Cabrón De Tamaulipas

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    3. Jews are not Christians and neither is saint Muerte.

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    4. @8:12 PM

      It’s true that Jews aren’t Christians, it’s axiomatic even, but we still believe in YHVH. The Jews refuse Jesus Christ, but the fact that they reject our Lord and the belief in the Holy Trinity doesn’t change the fact that the God of the Old Testament is our same God. Otherwise we would be marcionists, and marcionism is a heresy already condemned by the Catholic Church.

      El Cabrón De Tamaulipas

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  3. Give me a platform and I will change history! This is not creditable being that this guy is a psychopath and probably is craving for attention. Pretty irrelevant story but ok!

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    1. 1037 of course he is a psychopath, he can keep doing his job, and when going home, he changes into a fun loving father. Wonder how much he was getting,per kill? That was not mentioned in de article.

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  4. Muerte is NO Saint in the Catholic church which itself is not a religion also! Santa was said to describe death as a sacrament which all humans must go through to reach the afterlife. People are in no way encouraged to venerate death within the Catholic church like they do with Saints.

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    1. catholic church rejects santa muerte. a priest in tamps was killed because he refused to allow a statue of santa muerte on the altar

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  5. The City of Crime is the door to the Country of Addiction and money laundering that as and supports the whole rigmarole.
    The DFS fought for the Cd Juarez turf by creating and then eliminating the communist league 23 of September, then dedicated themselves to trafficking stolen American cars in Mexico and drugs on the US, let's remember DFS agent rafael aguilar guajardo got to be the Juarez cartel "Big Boss" until Amado Carillo Fuentes decided he was ready to be señor De Los Cielos and lord it over the former CIA/ Air America planes of his Air Force, some straight from air force general Richard Secord...
    It all found a home in Cd Juarez, sure, why nat?

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  6. Great suggestion! That one has been ob my shelves for a while but I've yet to dig into it.

    If you can get through how dry it is I'd also recommend 'Hidden Power: The Strategic Logic of Organized Crime' by James Cockayne. As well as 'El Sicario' by Molly Molloy & Charles Bowden.

    Also anything by Ioan Grillo seems to be great too!

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    1. Thanks, I will order them from the library !
      Maybe I am old fashioned, but , yes , I still use the library all the time. our little tiny one even has Kindle editions now that you can “ borrow” just like a real book to read on a tablet. Pretty cool.

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  7. Puros tecatos que ni para correr la hacen

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    1. 12:34 You are calling that boy a tecato. From his picture he is the farthest thing from a tecato. More like a serial killer.

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    2. This guy looks healthy. He eats good and does his workout program. Tecatos are sucked up skeletons unless they smoke it but even then Mcfly idk.

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    3. 4:58 just a journeyman.

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    4. 4:48 not all junkies/tecatos are skinny . I've met addicts who are gym freaks. Also heroin or opiods will make you gain weight once your body gets used to it after using for a few years.

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    5. @10:58

      He is fat. Sure, he has a good amount of muscle mass but he is still fat.

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    6. 1010 you just proved my point.

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  8. Hes a dumbass...
    In order to sacrifice people you must spill his blooof over a dagger and then kill him and painy a 69 in your forehead
    Not talking with a bunch of eskeletor bullshit...
    Im telling this again...
    We are not even close to the real terrorism

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    1. Sounding like some sign on a country road which reads ; HELL DOES EXIST!

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  9. Great story . . . Edgar . . . . spooky! not vacationing in Juarez when this guy gets out!

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  10. que tipo tan loco! how scary to know he will be walking free in a few years.

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  11. bowden wrote some great books!

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  12. Does anyone have a link to the Engel documentary on Juarez? I searched but could not find it.

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  13. I am always surprised by the comments on subjects like this,i wonder if people are really as shocked and disgusted as they make out?I tend to the latter,righteous indignation will e!icit the desired response from readers.Violence will always be with us,sometimes it is the only way and we see it everywhere

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    1. Regardless of what kinf of person this guy is most of us specially those of us with human values do not aprove of violence in any way shape or form. Even if that violence is geared towards a person like this criminal. So yes we can be diagusted and appalled by what people like this guy do for a living but at the same time be disgusted and appalled if someone did the same acts to him.

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    2. There are different levels of violence. Its way different to order a death for business and killing innocents theres a difference between putting a bullet into someone and cutting someones head off.

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  14. I always tripped out when I saw young people with rosarys that are catholic pray to Santa muerte. They couldn't be any more naive. If you're catholic we believe Saint Michael is the angel of death that takes us to be judged by the father. Believing this govelty gook is just nonsense. To take it one step further and sacrifice blood to a "false prophet" is plain evil. These guys worship evil and then wonder what went wrong when they are being beheaded or stabbed to death after all the wrong they did in their life. They will feel the fury and vengeance of the lord in their final moments and only then will they realize how wrong they were and they shall beg the lord for mercy.

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    1. Faith in something so unconceivable for many can often be scary. Moreover, when religious beliefs are established.
      Question is? Where does one draw a line to what's sane and morally acceptable? Rather, divine truth to it?

      Organized religions have taught and outlined moral compasses for all to follow.

      Wars continue to exist due to religious beliefs. A neverending story!



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    2. 613 I recommend 'the Lucifer effect' by Phil Zimbardo. The answer to your question is situational forces. I wont ruin the book for you but essentially that's what it covers. We as individuals must set our own parameters for our own lives. If we let situational forces dictate our behavior, then our future looks grim. However if we except that people of authority are human before all else. Only the can we understand that no man made system of authority is ever 100% correct. We must be our own authorities within this fucked up maze they call society.

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  15. This man shld be killed. Jaliscas shot out a seafood restaurant in cancun what a bunch of pussies.

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  16. Lacras like this should be put in a separate part of prison and let them fend for them selves if it means kill each other thats even better. They are not HUMAN ,they lost that right the second they kill so they should not be treated as one. These trash will NOT rehabilitate EVER. So stop Wasting time on these lames and if caught put a bullet to their head and do humanity a favor. Who knows mexican cops them selves might be saying their fellow cops life next time these p.o.s are set free by corrupted judges like this trash said.

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  17. This is like those two sicarios that were working for Los Zetas,,His name was reta and the other cat had a tattoo of his eyes closed.

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  18. When you start hearing voices and seeing things it is a disease called schizophrenia. This guy calls killing an addiction but victims or their relatives and friends never forget and eventually take revenge. If this murderer doesn't get killed in prison he will probably get killed when he gets out. I'm sure he will eventually get his pay (his wages) for the holy scriptures say that the wages of sin is death so rest assured he will not live to see old age cause the grim ripper will be waiting for him to make a mistake.

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    1. The ignorance in your post is unbelievable. Lol schizophrenia, and scriptures damming him to certain death. If your heard the holy spirit inside you tell you to go plant flowers... You would more than likely be called a holy rolling nut.... That word "nut" is what needs to be underlined. People do good and evil perfectly fine on they're own. The guys a monster, who for some incredible reason, found his only outlet through killing. The grim reaper waits for all of us, good and bad.

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  19. I don’t judge people but this guy is a lost cause

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  20. This documentary should be enough to put this mutt to sleep

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  21. Worshiping satan... what an idiot. That's like hoping when you die desiring to eternally burn. Guy has a negative IQ.

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    1. Satan knows ho to ensnare people. He wouldn’t rule the world and in particular Mexico if that wasn’t the case.

      El Cabrón de Tamaulipas

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  22. Here in the RGV AND TAMPS. A LOT OF KIDS BELIEVE IN SANTA MUERTE

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  23. This guy is not just a psychopath, he demonstrates classic symptoms of a psychopath that has psychosis within the condition. Psychopaths are common, 1 in a 100 people, however they very rarely act on their violent fantasies. People who demonstrate psychosis within the condition, in this case, seeing and speaking to Santa Muerte herself, are the ones that go on to killing and enjoy it, often escalating until they are forced to stop by either being killed or imprisoned.

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    1. Nice to see you active again big O

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    2. Orale el senor de la esta vivo y culeando

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  24. Look at this guy's eyes. Is there any doubt that he is a psycho? Don't turn this animal loose on society again!

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  25. It would have been nice, if pheasant's shot back at him. But afraid to kill a Sacario is always present.

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  26. He sounds honest. Most people can’t hear someone being honest unless it benefits them. They’re so quick to judge. And even quicker to label the heck out of everything. - Sol Prendido

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  27. May God save Mexico
    Lives means nothing,nothing
    Plan parenthood be eh good start
    Why does poor people have four
    Kids? More Catholic than Catholics..unwanted kids
    No social structure
    Help single moms
    How can these soul of death sleep at night... tomorrow i can apply for social assistance and receive monthly
    900 ..system for help if u want it..you pay into network
    Mexico have no such system.
    Over population
    And capitalism dont work
    Too many for so little
    Sad to say this will continue
    Greed and death.death per week is astonishing .be come the norm
    So far this year
    City of one million
    23 murder. Mostly gangs
    Three gangster from.here got killed IN mexico

    Mexico
    23 killed in 16 hours
    ..gutting of society

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  28. The tattoo in the first picture. I have seen this same image tattooed on sicarios online. Does anyone have any idea the meaning behind it?

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