Taxi driver, barber, or funeral director by day. Sicario (hitman) by night. In Honduras, life’s easier with a second job, especially when a single payment can be up to 10,000 dollars. Naturally, it’s not every day you get to remove a politician who’s become a pain to the drug cartels or got a bit too close for comfort to the interests of some gringos, but payment is as certain as death. For some cheap, less demanding jobs like extortion, drug dealing, or local theft, the reward can be the promise of a tattoo. For those who choose this job, a 9mm or 38 pistol is something you carry with you all the time because belonging to a big gang like Los Cachiros or the Cartel del Atlàntico is not always a guarantee of protection.
Danger is constant companion of a Sicario’s life. Just walking through an area controlled by another gang can mean immediate death. The outskirts of San Pedro Sul are at the top of the list of the most dangerous areas in the world. The homicide rate for San Pedro Sul is 111 homicides for every 100,000 inhabitants. The U.S. rate is 4.9 per 100,000. The area is a continuous succession of shacks and muddy lanes, where the only lights to brighten the night are that of the police cars or searchlights used to identify another body of someone far too young.
The path of the Sicario is a one-way street. When you grow up without a mother or a father, without schooling, without money, the gang soon becomes your family. It feeds you and protects you, but everything’s got a price and all debts must eventually be paid. Leaving the life is not an option. Certain embraces in Honduras are so strong that they only end in death.
