Thread: Cartel hit man testifies on murder training camp in Mexico

Jan 19, 2012

Cartel hit man testifies on murder training camp in Mexico

By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY Updated 21m ago

Mexico's Secretary Navy via APA hit man testifying in a Texas trial has provided a shocking glimpse into the training of drug cartel killers at a small Mexican town where the remains of 200 bodies were unearthed last year, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

"They would show new recruits how to kill," Wenceslao Tovar, 26, a self-confessed hit man, testified Wednesday, the newspaper reports. "They would give them a machete. If not, they'd give them a sledge hammer and they'd tell them to kill the people they had tied up."

Those who successfully finished the training course in San Fernando were treated to a party that included a raffle for watches, cars and cash, Tovar said, according to the newspaper.

Tovar, a U.S. citizen who was recently deported from Mexico, said those recruits who couldn't kill were designated as lookouts for the drug gangs.

He was testifying in Laredo at the trial of Gerardo Castillo Chavez, a 25-year-old from Mexico, on charges of taking part in killings and assaults in 2006 as part of a drug conspiracy.

Tovar said his career as a hit man ended six years ago when an auto accident left him confined to a wheelchair, the Express-News reports.

Cartel hit man testifies on murder training camp in Mexico

Why isn't this Tovar in Mexico being tried for murder?