A former member of the MS-13 gang has admitted to killing his first victim at the age of only eighteen.
Giving an interview while wearing a hoodie and a face mask, the man - who only identified himself as Juan - said he killed three people and witnessed a victim being dismembered.
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He has since fled his native Honduras and is currently wanted by MS-13.
Juan said: "When I killed the first person I was nervous, I wanted to smoke, lots of stuff.
"I thought that it could have been me, my mom, I don't know.
"But you have to do it for yourself as well because you are already in the family and you don't have a choice.
"You have to do what they tell you."
The MS-13 has been in the headlines for its extreme violence which include murders, rapes and even the recording of acts of torture.
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The gang was formed in Los Angeles in the 80s by immigrants fleeing El Salvador's civil war and has a reputation for its many symbolisms and for using machetes to kill. It now has branches throughout Latin America.
Juan described a vile scene of a body dismemberment, saying: "I saw one. They had cut the person into little pieces and put them in a box. MS-13 cuts them into thirteen pieces. It's their symbol.
"I only heard the screams and all that, and how they killed them. It was so that people would know."
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He explained he was paid a salary of just 1,500 pesos (£50) a week 'to watch over the neighbourhood' - adding that if you carried out a hit 'you got privileges if you wanted: money, women, clothes, or a new weapon'.
In July 2020, then America's president Trump brought terrorism charges against members of MS-13, calling them a 'vile and evil people.'
MS-13 is accused of recruiting financially vulnerable teenagers like Juan, who joined the group at the age of fifteen.
According to Juan: "Once you're in the gang, you can't get out."
He added: "To leave the gang I had to leave my country. The only solution was to join the Church.
"Even the police betray you. They sell you out."
Now working to rebuild his life, the man regrets his criminal past saying he had no option but to join the gang if he were to survive on the streets.
He said: "I'm really trying to have a life. To work, to make an honest living. To not bother anyone.
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"To progress and not to make the same mistakes that I made before."
You can watch the full interview with Juan here.
Words: Cilene Tanaka
Topics: World News, army