Number of youngsters recruited by cartels ‘on the rise’
Children aged between 11 and 17 years old are being used by Mexican drug cartels to traffic narcotics and to work as spies, it has been revealed.
Information from the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has suggested that the number of children being recruited from the US by powerful cartels has risen significantly in the past six months, the Latin American Herald Tribune reports.
The number of arrests made in southern California has increased with children being caught on charges of drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and piracy.
It has been said that a number of drug gangs are taking to US border cities such as San Diego in California to recruit young members.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration found that one of Mexico's most violent gangs, Los Zetas, pays youngsters on average $500 (£323) to smuggle drugs and $1,000 to guard a kidnap victim for up to a month.
According to radio broadcaster NPR, Los Zetas operates along much of the eastern coast of Mexico, but is renowned for being one of the most influential gangs in the importation and exportation of controlled substances.
