A man who escaped the training camp of Mexico's most powerful cartel has lifted the lid on what life is like there.
Francisco (not his real name), found himself stuck working for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel when he was dropped off in the mountains of Guadalajara and told that his only escape was death.
He has now opened up on his experience in the cartel's infamous 'training camp', where recruits are forced to kill and eat human flesh to prove themselves, as they are constantly threatened with death.
Speaking to Telemundo, Francisco told of how he learned to handle guns, set ambushes, respect the rules and how to kill during a brutal three months of training to become a hitman.
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He said: “I saw a lot of people arriving. There were 19 of us men, between our twenties and thirties. There were construction workers, carpenters, mechanics, nightclub security guards, lawyers, accountants…”
Francisco recalled the situation as men were warned about wanting to leave after they complained about being led to the mountains under false pretences, with the former cookie factory worker led there after helping a mysterious man on a night out back in April 2018.
He later learned that the man was one of the sons of Nemesio Oseguera, a Mexican drug lord who was better known as El Mencho, before his death earlier this month sparked chaos in the streets of Mexico.
Upon arriving in the mountains, the group of men were threatened by a cartel member.
"If you want to leave, go ahead, go ahead," he said, while cocking his pistol. "The only way you're leaving here is feet first. Anyone who wants to leave after him, say so now. We're not playing games.
“That’s when I understood, and we all understood, that we were in deep trouble. You don’t know what’s coming, but you have to stay quiet and very serious because they could take any gesture the wrong way."
As training began, one man was deemed to be too nervous when assembling a pistol and therefore wasn't up to the task of becoming a hitman. He was brutally shot just moments later.
“In the blink of an eye, BANG, BANG, BANG!, he killed him. He told us he was useless because in a real operation he would panic and put us all in danger,” Francisco said.
However, worse was to come for his fellow recruits as they were told to dispose of the body, which meant dismembering the recently deceased man, while one 'shy' draftee was forced to eat parts of his human flesh.
"You knew that if you said no, they were going to kill you,” Francisco continued. "I had to do it, you have no choice. The fear, the blood…
“There was one who couldn’t eat it and vomited, but they picked it up with dirt and forced him to eat it.”
Fortunately, Francisco was able to escape after three months in captivity but the trauma he endured there will surely stay with him for the rest of his life.
James Moorhouse