H/T Gawker | Photo via The I Files/YouTube, Miles Klee is a novelist and web culture reporter. All too quickly, he found himself, a young teenager, witnessing Trevios frequent executions at a small ranch house in Nuevo Laredo. For him, there is no future. A close friend, Gabriel Cardona, now 26, lived nearby. He is also accused of being involved in the murder of US Consulate staffers killed in Ciudad Juarez in 2010. Cardona had eyeballs tattooed on his eyelids. Jun. They were torturing people and getting information from them, said Reta. Just hours before they were arrested, federal authorities taped a phone conversation between them in which Cardona brags about killing 14-year-old Inez Villareal and his cousin, a Cardona rival. Reta dropped out sixth grade; Cardona left school in ninth grade. You think that its not going to end because it just keeps coming., In interrogation videos made shortly after his arrest in 2009, Reta told a Laredo police detective how killing made him feel like Superman., Related: U.S. teens were hit men for Mexican cartel. At age 13, the Laredo, Texas, native was brought into the notorious Zetas drug cartel across the border in Mexico, where . Rosalio Reta was just 13 when he committed his first murder for the Zetas drug cartel; . He was allegedly part of a "cell" of young enforcers that followed rivals and tracked members of the cartel's own ranks. On the surface, Gabriel Cardonas eyes belong to a baby face. He and Reta became Zetas hitmen, training in various types of weapons before being unleashed on the streets of Laredo. Rebecca Salinas is a digital producer at the San Antonio Express-News. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. Gabriel Cardona, who shows his tattooed eyelids, worked as a hit man for a Mexican cartel. Gabriel Cardona and Rosalio 'Bart' (as in Bart Simpson) Reta are American citizens of the border town of Laredo, Texas. In the statement, Reta admitted being the driver of the car they used to go kill Flores. Reta was one of 10 children and Cardona was one of five boys whose father disappeared early in his life. I will look you in the eyes while you kill me.'. The comments below have not been moderated. Rosalio Reta was just 13 years old when Miguel Trevio, leader of the ruthless Zetas, the paramilitary wing of Mexico's Gulf Cartel, recruited him as a killer. A large image of Santa Muerte or Saint of Death marks Cardonas back. Remorseless: Cardona appears unrepentant for his nightmarish crimes. Their short but bloody careers came crashing down swiftly, one after the other. As a 13-year-old, Reta was at school. His feelings about his bloody work have changed over the years, from chilling braggadocio as a 19-year-old in police interviews, to softly spoken, wet-eyed pleas for understanding in his latest interviews. Reta didnt know who the man was, but it was clear he instilled fear and commanded respect among everyone standing around watching the dramatic scene unfold. The friends were mingling with questionable characters but he was curious about the narco world. He still faces separate charges in another killing in Laredo that was allegedly carried out on the orders of the. "These organizations, these cartels, they function like a Fortune 500 company," Webb County, Texas, prosecutor Uriel Druker said. If you believe this Record is in error (i.e. Although he initially commented I like what I do in regards to his career as a hitman, Reta in recent weeks has affected a more remorseful tone: It gets to a point where I cant even stand myself, he says. Convicted of two murders (he says he killed. 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On the border, a lot of people get dragged into this lifestyle, Reta said. Cardona smiled when asked how many people he remembers killing for the Zetas. When Reta arrived at the ranch, it was a crash course in drug cartel culture. Thats a day that Im never going to be able to forget. Its hard to pinpoint just how much money they were paid. And both sported tattoos of "Santa Muerte," the Grim Reaper-like pseudo-saint worshipped by drug traffickers. Prosecutors say the shooting victim, Noe Flores, was the half brother of the intended target. Reta killed his first victim at 13 years old, when a drug lord handed him a gun and commanded him to shoot another man. They were paid up to $50,000 and 2 kilos of cocaine for carrying out a hit. It gives you that sense that you could do anything without being touched and having that sense of power, Cardona said. Published: 07:08 GMT, 7 August 2013 | Updated: 16:48 GMT, 7 August 2013. Investigators found a fingerprint on a cigarette box inside the suspected shooter's get-away car. Witnesses testified Wednesday that Reta and two other men working for the cartel were paid $15,000 to kill a Laredo man in January 2006. Reta, now 20, is serving a 70-year sentence after pleading with the DEA for extradition to the U.S. so as to avoid being killed by a rival gang member in prison in Mexico, where he was arrested for a 2006 hit. Rosalio Reta in a Texas state prison in 2009 at age 19. Credit. OG Shadow's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGlNhxVZxIJ_7KhgdmaO2QQInterview with OG Shadow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kDPbfrmEncPrison Ques. Rosalio Reta and his friend, Gabriel Cardona, were members of a three-person cell of American teenagers working as cartel hit men in the United States, according to prosecutors. "There's no doubt about it.". SHARN STEINMANN/Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Lori Garcia . Zavala was sentenced to life in prison after killing 16 people at a bar in Chihuahua in 2012. The cases against Cardona and Reta -- both are in prison serving long prison sentences for murder -- shed new light into the workings of the drug cartels. Rosalio Reta and his friend, Gabriel Cardona, were members of a three-person cell of American teenagers working as cartel hit men in the United States, according to prosecutors. I have no idea, Cardona said. Reta, 24, and Cardona, 26, still bear signs of their years as feared assassins. Trevino had built control and protection systems to insulate his organization at every level from law enforcement agencies and politicians. It's eating me inside little by little, and there's nothing I can do or say to justify my actions.'. Harry Anslinger employed Joe Arpaio in 1957 to be an agent in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and he rose through the bureau over decades. "We have to remember that the United States is the market they are trying to get to. And like everything in the violent world of drug cartels, unraveling truth and myth seems fleeting. CNN has also obtained detailed court records as well as several hours of police interrogation videos. As the teens became more immersed in the cartel lifestyle, their appearance changed. In Chasing the Scream, journalist Johann Hari spends three years trying to understand the war on drugs by interviewing hundreds of people who have fought on its front lines. Before Trevios capture and arrest by Mexican marines a week ago, the Center for Investigative Reporting spoke with Reta about his horrific experience as a murderous cog in Los Zetas. Then they were paid up to $50,000 and 2 kilos of cocaine for carrying out a hit. Absolute control, Reta said of Trevinos power. A lot of people get dragged into this lifestyle, but what we fail to see is we do it to ourselves. . I wasn't living my life,' he told CNN. His mind isnt haunted by violent images from his former life. The teenagers lived in several safe houses around Laredo and drove around town in a $70,000 Mercedes-Benz. But this was a put-on, Slater writes. As the call ends, Cardona says, "There are three left to kill, there are three left. Meet Rosalio Reta, an inmate in Texas who killed over 30 people during his time as a hitmanstarting at age 13for Miguel Trevio, the just-captured boss of the brutal Zeta drug cartel. The detective sitting across the table from Reta and Cardona in those sessions is Robert Garcia. He was eighty when I met him, and about to be elected to his sixth consecutive term. It was kind of hard to believe.. Featuring his first-ever on-camera interview, this is the extraordinary story of Rosalio 'Bart' Reta. The Webb County Courthouse was heavily guarded. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. Given six months of military training in Mexico, he was sent across the border. But former member Rosalio Reta told Reveal that Morales' propensity for psychological torture made him an equally terrifying killer. He says he made "guiso," or stew, with their bodies. Escajeda is also presumably responsible for the killing of anti-crime activist Benjamin LeBaron. Reta was trained in a secret camp where he learned how to be a sicario, a hitman. At the age of 13, he crossed the bridge into Nuevo Laredo in search of adventure and was introduced to the Gulf Cartel when his friend Gabriel Cardona took him to a ranch to report for duty for Miguel Trevino Morales. Reta didn&#8217 I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The question remains: How did two American teenagers become killers-for-hire for a Mexican drug cartel? Reta has spoken about his past at various times over the seven years since his arrest. He stood over the 13-year-old and handed him a gun. Alleged hitman Rosalio "Bart" Reta, 17, has pleaded guilty to muirder. Reta's first kill was at 13 years old. Healthy mother-of-two, 32, collapsed and died from brain bleed while she led fitness bounce class, Taking Vitamin D each day could cut your chances of getting dementia, study claims. DAVID MONROY/AFP/Getty Images Show More Show Less 5 of 15 Rosalio Reta. Movies. According to a New York Times article from 2009, most of the American youths were recruited in a Nuevo Laredo disco called Eclipse, situated in the main square just across one of two bridges that connect the two Laredos. But what we fail to see is that we do it to ourselves.. Despite Reta's youth, "he's a cold-blooded killer," Guillen said. Rosalio Reta, Self: Generation Z: Child Soldiers of the Zetas. He was sentenced to 70 years in prison for his murders. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Lopez allegedly worked for Teo, a drug lord from the Tijuana area, and allegedly helped the drug cartel dispose of hundreds of victims by dissolving them in acid. Reta killed his first victim at 13 years old, when a drug lord handed him a gun and commanded him to shoot another man. I couldnt believe what I was seeing. The third was. The way the content is organized. Rosalio 'Bart' Reta's story of how he went from a kid to a teenage hit man for a Mexican drug cartel and how detectives put him behind bars. He said he was under influence of drugs and forced to carry out murders, or cartel leaders would kill him. He was a good student, but he was more interested in what was happening across the river from his town, in the cantinas and barrios of Nuevo Laredo. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Trevino, 40, faces charges of organized crime, homicide, torture and money laundering, a Mexican government security spokesman told reporters in July. This is a carousel. In January 2009, Lopez confessed to disposing more than 300 corpses. Can Alperen Sengun become a passable defender for the Rockets? 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