Overview
- Reinserta unveiled a school-focused prevention book to help students, parents and teachers recognize and resist criminal recruitment.
- Interviews with detained youth in Guerrero and Estado de México indicate friends and acquaintances are the primary recruiters, with entry often between ages 11 and 16 and incentives ranging from cash and goods to protection.
- REDIM cites 140,000 to 250,000 minors at risk nationwide, while past estimates ranged from 35,000 in 2011 to about 460,000 in 2018, underscoring wide data gaps.
- Civil-society groups call for a specific criminal offense for recruiting minors, along with support networks and tailored disengagement programs for children already drawn in.
- Experts point to elevated risk in states including Michoacán, Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, Estado de México and Guanajuato, linking vulnerability to poverty, family violence, early drug use and school dropout.