"They don't see themselves as villains," Mendoza adds. "They see themselves as the only social mobility available. The cartel is the employer, the police, and the judge in the barrio."
The average lifespan of a Mexican gangster once he becomes a sicario de alto rango (high-ranking hitman) is just 18 months. mexican gangster
The archetype of the "Mexican gangster"—whether the street-level sicario (hitman) or the billionaire capo —is not born in a vacuum. To understand him, one must walk the dusty, unpaved streets of Lomas del Poleo, a hillside slum overlooking the glittering factories of Juárez. "They don't see themselves as villains," Mendoza adds
"Look at the shoes," says former cartel operative turned community activist, "El Chacal" (The Jackal), who now hides his identity behind a ski mask while speaking at youth centers. "A real Mexican gangster wears $2,000 ostrich-skin boots. Why? Because his father walked barefoot. The violence is not the goal. The violence is the tool to never be poor again." "A real Mexican gangster wears $2,000 ostrich-skin boots
At the Forensic Science Center in Nuevo León, rows of unidentified bodies lie on stainless steel trays. Most are young men with extensive tattoos: Santa Muerte, tear drops, the word "Humility." They died clutching cell phones and golden medallions.
That is the tragedy of the Mexican gangster. He is the monster the system demanded—and the broken son the village cannot afford to bury.
Here, the line between survival and criminality is thinner than a razor blade.