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A Mexican hitman, who claims to have killed as many as 900 people, has told
Sky News how the police and the military are often involved in the planning
and execution of his murders.
"Carlos" has been a paid killer for more than 25 years - working for drug
cartels, politicians and the military.
We met the hitman in Tepito market - one of the most dangerous places in the
whole of Mexico City, despite being at the heart of its smartest district.
The assassin said the network of cartel power is so entrenched in society
and powered by so much money that it is unstoppable.
"On some occasions, we have to go to places where weapons are not allowed
and then they (police) meet us.
"They take us to a hotel and they provide all the weapons that we may need,
money and everything so that one can do the job one has to do."
The abduction of 43 students last September has forced Mexico into
confronting its crime problems.
Carlos believes that the students are already dead, and uses a chilling
example from his own experience to explain why he is so certain.
"Let me tell you a story. Some protestors came. We let them in and then we
closed the road, we closed the entrance, we closed the exit. When they were
stuck in the middle we killed them all," he recounted.
"Then a (rubbish) truck from the army came and collected them all. Then
street sweeper machines went past. They opened the road again, as if nothing
had happened.
"The students are dead, it is more convenient. For kidnapping you get 160
years, for killing its 35. It's a huge difference, don't you think?"
Mexico is described by many as a "Narco State", where government and civil
society appear powerless against drug money, cartels, corruption and
terrible violence - committed on an almost daily basis.
This country bordering the United States and Central America has become a
transit point for drugs across the world.
The revenues are mind-blowing - tens of billions of dollars a year.
The demand for what it can deliver to affluent societies is insatiable.
It is the root of the problem of course, and widespread poverty, combined
with the need to make a living, are the crumbling foundations of a state
teetering on the edge of disaster.
Mexico is in trouble. It is failing. A black market culture where anything
can be bought is all-pervading. Nobody is above this. Absolutely nobody.
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