Drug Cartels Recruiting Kids

You may or may not have heard of Ponchi, the 14 year-old drug cartel assassin recently arrested in Mexico. The Chicago Tribune wrote up an interesting piece about how young people are increasingly being recruited by the cartels because of a lack of job and educational prospects:

“The virtually endless supply of young foot soldiers keeps the cartels well-stocked with thugs, gunmen, mules, peddlers and lookouts. As vulnerable kids fall through the cracks, Mexico risks losing part of a generation…About a million youths are considered at risk and easy prey for cartels, according to studies by the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. It is a precarious and probably short life. The young foot soldiers are little more than cannon fodder…Police and military officials say they are capturing a larger number of youths in operations against cartels.”

In addition to Ponchis, Mexican authorities have recently arrested people as young as 13, 14 and 17 in connection with drug-related deaths in that country.