Babyfaced killer 16, has his head BLOWN OFF by cops desperate to end his reign of terror as a Mexican cartel hitman
A TEENAGE 'hitman' who had been a gang member from the age of 13 had his head blown off in a gruesome shoot-out with police in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
It's believed that 16-year-old Juanito Pistola was on his way to murder cops with other members of the Tropa del Infierno gang.
According to local media, Juanito Pistola joined the 'Hell’s Troop' gang, part of the Cartel del Noreste (CDN), when he was just 13 years old.
Nicknamed ‘Comandante Chikitin’, ‘Commander Little’ in English, Pistola was inside a van with other alleged gang members when they were reportedly ordered to ambush a police team in the town of Nuevo Laredo in the north-eastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
They were armed with rifles and dressed in military uniforms as they headed to the ambush location, close to the airport.
'COMMANDER LITTLE'
Along with the grizzly death of Pistola, six of his comrades were also gunned down and were pictured lifeless in the van - splattered with pieces of Pistola's skull.
After police searched the van, which had US licence plates, Pistola was reportedly found with his head blown off.
Local media said that the van had been used in an attack on the police several days before in a different part of the city.
According to reports, cartels often recruit minors to mainly work as drug smugglers.
Pistola had risen through the ranks to become a hitman at the time of his death, according to local media.
Nuevo Laredo is of great strategic importance for the cartels because of numerous international bridges and its proximity to the US.
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The town has seen a spate of assaults by CDN gangsters on the state and army police in recent weeks.
A video from last week appears to show trucks marked with CDN insignia speeding down the highway as gunshots ring out.
The CDN, formerly Los Zetas, have controlled the town since 2004 when they took it from the Sinola cartel in a bloody turf war which claimed at least 2,000 lives, Telemundo reported.
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