The Young Face of Drug Trafficking: Up To 250,000 Children and Adolescents Are Recruited in Mexico

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat 

In Mexico, it is estimated that up to 250,000 children and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 are at risk of being recruited by organized crime, primarily in the states of Chihuahua, Colima, Baja California, and Mexico City, according to the civil organization Reinserta. The organization pointed out that children are currently being recruited through digital means.

Therefore, it called on federal authorities to classify child recruitment as a crime and to promote state-level prevention plans that address the root causes within the specific context of each state.

"Children and adolescents in Mexico cannot continue to be the youngest faces of the war. We must act with laws, public policies, education, but also with empathy. Abandoning optimism will not solve this problem. It is important to make it clear that political will is urgently needed, but so is social will," stated Saskia Niño de Rivera, co-founder of Reinserta.

The civil group presented the book "How Not to Be a Hitman?" where he indicated that 6 out of 10 adolescents in juvenile detention who were recruited by organized crime began using drugs between the ages of 11 and 15, and 5 out of 10 adolescents in detention who were recruited by organized crime joined a cartel between the ages of 14 and 16.

Furthermore, 7 out of 10 adolescents who have had problems with the law had already had contact with criminal groups in their neighborhoods.

He also emphasized that 81 percent of the country's territory has a presence of some criminal group, which is why this is a nationwide problem.

José Pablo, operations director of Reinserta, explained that the report arose from research they conducted on this topic between 2020 and 2021, when they interviewed 70 children and adolescents involved with organized crime in seven states.

The book contains some of these testimonies, including that of Braulio, recruited by organized crime as a teenager, who recounted how he was always in contact with criminals because his cousins ​​sold drugs or were hitmen.

The book also includes the testimony of Tito, who grew up in an environment where violence was commonplace, as his father introduced him to the world of crime without his knowledge.

"This book is based on stories like Raúl's and Susana's; we didn't invent them. It's the result of Reinserta's work, taking a team and listening to these stories. The text addresses the facts and risks involved. It's about understanding that we live in a country that normalizes violence, a country that is violent towards its children," stated the operations director.

Furthermore, she reiterated that children in Mexico "face vulnerabilities that are reflected in the factors at risk, in abandonment or neglect, in exposure to violence, in the lack of educational and employment opportunities, which ultimately leads to marginalization across all social structures."

Reinserta recommended that authorities create an information system to track the number of minors who have been recruited, as well as develop specialized mechanisms for the care, recovery, and reintegration of children and adolescents who have been recruited.

Source: La Jornada