A 16-year-old boy has had both of his index fingers chopped off with a machete by members of a criminal gang after he refused to sell drugs.

The brutal punishment was meted out to the teen boy, whose name was not divulged after he allegedly refused to sell drugs in the coastal city of Acapulco in the Mexican state of Guerrero.

The youngster explained how he was on his way home when a group of men approached him in a vehicle and ordered him at gunpoint to get in.

The teen said the men took him to a discreet location and made him get out of the car before placing a board under his hands and then cutting off both of his index fingers with a machete.

They also beat him in the back before ordering him back into the vehicle and then driving him to a bridge, where they left him.

The mutilated boy was taken to a public hospital, where doctors suggested reattaching the amputated digits. However, the fingers were unable to be found.

The boy and his family were subsequently forced to flee their home to a shelter in the coastal city of Tijuana in the state of Baja California – 1,521 miles away from Acapulco as the crow flies – after the same gang allegedly threatened to decapitate the boy if he further refused to comply with their demands.

Tijuana borders the city of San Diego in the US state of California, and the family’s intention, now, is to cross into the United States.

Not only did the boy’s family have to upend their lives in fear for their safety, but his dad, who is a humble builder, revealed the medication the youngster required after he was mutilated cost him MXN 10,000 (GBP 359).

The average daily wage in Mexico was last reported by Trading Economics to be MXN 432 (GBP 16).

The names of the suspects were not divulged, and local media did not report if the authorities are investigating the case.