In Mexico, Children as Young as 10 Recruited by Drug Cartels

 

A Mexican nonprofit, Reinserta, released a report last Wednesday about children in cartels. They talked with 89 imprisoned¹ minors² across Mexico. Reinserta works to prevent children from becoming recruited by drug cartels. They also find ways to rebuild the lives of those who have already been recruited.

Of the 89 minors, 67 of them said they had been actively³ involved with cartels. They joined at an average age of between 13 and 15. All of them had left school and, at some point, began using firearms.

Drug cartels find people under 18 useful. They get less attention and cannot be charged as adults. At first, they are used for street-level drug sales and as lookouts⁴. But often, they quickly move up to become killers⁶.

Mexican laws permit sentences of between three and five years for most young criminals. This means almost all of them leave prison before they are 21.

Marina Flores is a researcher for Reinserta. She said the study suggests that some common ideas about children in drug cartels are not true.

Children who join cartels almost always use drugs and leave, or are forced to leave school before they join.

However, membership in a local street gang no longer appears to be the pathway to joining a cartel. Cartels in Mexico are now recruiting children as soon as they leave school.

Flores said, "street gangs are not a previous step for them joining organized crime." She continued, "we are finding out that as soon as they are taken out of school, they immediately go into organized crime."

The Network for Children's Rights in Mexico says that, between 2000 and 2019 in Mexico, 21,000 people under 18 were murdered in Mexico and 7,000 disappeared.

The group estimates that some 30,000 children had been recruited by 2019.

Reinserta says children are often recruited by other children. Drug use is one way to recruit them. Cartels also use religious beliefs and a sense of belonging these children cannot find in other places. Combinations of poverty, abusive homes and unresponsive schools and social agencies are also causes.

Reinserta says there are many ways to prevent children from joining cartels, including increased early attention to children, more activities, more chances to learn and working to prevent violence at home. The group also proposes creating a national list of children recruited by cartels, increased attention to mental health and early and effective treatment of addiction⁷.

Jacobo carried out a murder for a cartel when he was 12. He told his story to Reinserta. His full name was not given due to his age and fear of the gangs.

He said, "They go around looking for kids who are out on the streets and need money. At 12 years old, I became sort of a hired killer⁵."

"A neighbor asked me, ‘Do you want to earn money?'" Jacobo explained.

His family needed the money. But the $1,500 he earned did not last long. He started using drugs, in part to quiet his mind from what he was doing.

From the age of 14, he was torturing and killing⁸ members of enemy cartels.

Then, the cartel ordered him to murder someone publicly. He refused and went into hiding. The cartel asked to meet him.

"When I showed up to the meeting place, they started shooting me," Jacobo said. He was left for dead. Luckily, he survived and is now serving a four-year sentence for murder as a child.

Words in This Story

cartel – n. a group of businesses that agree to fix prices so they all will make more money

recruit – v. to find suitable people and get them to join a company, an organization, or the armed forces

gang – n. a group of criminals

previous – adj. earlier in time or order

addiction – n. a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)

kid – n. a young person, a child

hire – v. to give work or a job to (someone) in exchange for wages or a salary

get rid of – phr. v. to do something so that you no longer have or are affected or bothered by (something or someone that is unwanted)

1 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

2 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

4 lookouts   

n.寻找（ 某人/某物）( lookout的名词复数 )；是某人（自己）的问题；警戒；瞭望台

参考例句：

• Lookouts were spotted all along the coast. 沿海岸都布置了监视哨。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Lookouts and leadsmen in bulky life jackets stumbled and slipped after him. 监视哨和测深员穿着饱鼓鼓的救生衣，跌跌撞撞地跟在他后面。 来自辞典例句

5 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

6 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

7 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。