05 September 2026 , 19:20
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A teenage assassin an assassin squad and his drug-kingpin uncle were killed during a shootout with security forces in the western Mexico state of Michoacán, the government said.
Alberto “Chuchito Nini” Sandoval, 15, allegedly oversaw a team of hitmen and used his social media accounts as a tool to recruit other minors to the cartel, according to the Michoacán Attorney General’s Office.
Sandoval is said to have been the personal bodyguard for his uncle, Cartel de Los Reyes leader Luis “El R-5” Barragán, 39, who was wanted by the US on drug trafficking charges.
Mexican military and National Guard troops were conducting an operation with the Michoacán Attorney General’s Office and the state police after receiving intelligence about Barragán’s whereabouts when they were met with gunfire at a ranch in the municipality of Tocumbo on Aug. 30, Mexico’s security ministry said.
Sandoval and Barragán were pronounced dead at the scene. It’s unknown if the teen was involved in the gun battle.
Photos on two Instagram accounts — which reportedly belonged to Sandoval — showed a younger version of himself dressed in a Chivas de Guadalajara jersey and posing with a ball.
“Memories,” the caption read in Spanish.
However, other images offered proof of his grim new role in the family.
A photo showed Sandoval in full military tactical gear holding an assault rifle in one hand while another dangled from his waist.
A gun could be seen tucked inside a holster wrapped around one of his legs.
Additional photos showed him dressed in military gear and civilian clothing as he posed with assault rifles.
Mexican security analyst David Saucedo told The Post that Sandoval’s story was not unlike those of the scores of pre-teens and teens who are forced into working as dealers and assassins for drug cartels and criminal organizations.
“The upper echelons of drug trafficking in Mexico are made up of families; in reality, they are family businesses,” Saucedo explained. “Consequently, dynastic succession is the norm.
“Cartels are handed down from fathers to sons, fathers to nephews, uncles to nephews, or between siblings. Because Mexican cartels operate as family businesses, El R-5’s nephew did not undergo the kind of recruitment that, regrettably, so many other young Mexicans endure. His situation is unique: he is part of a criminal leader’s inner circle.”
Mexico’s security minister Omar García Harfuch wrote on X that the US State Department had formally petitioned for the extradition of Barragán, who became the leader of the Cartel de Los Reyes after its previous boss, Alfonso “Poncho la Quiringua” Fernández, was captured by the military Aug. 1.
The US was offering a $3 million reward for Barragán, who was wanted on drug and firearms charges filed by a District of Columbia federal court in July 2023 and unsealed two years later.
Barragán, according to Homeland Security Investigations, was the lead hitman for the cartel, which was a faction of Carteles Unidos.
Carteles Unidos, was formed as an alliance of smaller cartels located in the states of Michoacán, Guerrero and Estado de México who joined forces to fight off the threat from bigger cartels and criminal organizations, was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Department of State in February 2025.
“The operation by Mexican authorities demonstrates what sustained pressure on criminal and terrorist organizations can achieve,” US Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Jackson wrote on X.
World Affairs Correspondent