In Mexico, children as young as 10 recruited by drug cartels

By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Jacobo grew up in the western Mexico state of Jalisco, home to the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel. He had an abusive childhood: his mother held his hands over an open flame after he allegedly shoved a classmate. Now 17, Jacobo claims he didn’t do it. By 12, he says, he was recruited to carry out his first murder for the cartel. By his mid-teens he was torturing members of rival cartels for information, killing them and cutting up their bodies or dissolving them in acid. Jacobo told his story to Reinserta, a Mexican non-profit that works to prevent youths from getting recruited by drug cartels.