Five Mexican students were brutally murdered on camera by a cartel after allegedly being lured to meet for a fake job offer.

According to Daily Mail, the victims — Jaime Adolfo Martínez Miranda, 21; Dante Cedillo Hernández, 22; Diego Alberto Lara Santoyo, 20; Roberto Olmeda Cuellar, 20; and Uriel Galván González, 19 — were last seen on Friday (Aug. 11) in their hometown of Lagos de Moreno, Mexico. The childhood friends were reportedly tricked into a trap that was set up by a drug lord hoping to recruit them as hitmen. They were ordered to beat, stab, and even decapitate each other. However, when they refused to engage in these criminal activities, they were killed.

A video of the five kids on their knees with duct tape on their mouths and their bloody faces bruised has been circulating social media, shedding light on the dangerous cartels in Mexico. As previously reported by REVOLT, back in March, four friends drove from South Carolina to Matamoros, Mexico to accompany one who allegedly had to get a cosmetic procedure done. Before they could reach the appointment, the group was stopped by members of the Gulf Cartel and violently kidnapped. Two of them were shot to death during the attack.

According to authorities, members of the Mexican cartel reportedly apologized for their actions after the kidnapping was ruled as a case of mistaken identity when the assailants thought the Americans were Haitian drug smugglers. “We have decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events, who at all times acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline,” the letter read. The anonymous person also stated that those members disobeyed the cartel’s rules, which include “respecting the life and well-being of the innocent.” Attached to the letter was a picture of five men tied up on the ground.