Teen Killer for Mexican Drug Cartel Symbolizes a Generation Lost to Gangs

The 14-year old boy accused of working as a hit man for a Mexican drug cartel has become the poster child for a generation of kids recruited by gangs around the world.  Edgar Jimenez Lugo, also known as “El Ponchis,” has allegedly confessed to participating in four murders involving torture and decapitation.   He told investigators that he was drugged and his life was threatened while he worked for the South Pacific Cartel, a criminal organization linked to 200 murders.  Time Magazine examines the worldwide impact of this story which has made headlines from Atlanta to Australia. The teenager is actually an American citizen, born in San Diego, arrested in Cuernavaca.  In the U.S. he might be tried as an adult, but under Mexican law he’s a juvenile and will likely get just three years in prison if convicted. People who work with children are disgusted by the case but not surprised. Sister Margaret Slowick, a member of the Sisters of St.