Teen arrested for alleged forced recruitment of minors in Mexico

Authorities in Tlaquepaque, Mexico, arrested a 17-year-old boy suspected of forced recruitment of minors. The teenager was detained at the Nueva Central Camionera bus station as he was preparing to meet a 17-year-old girl who had traveled from Atotonilco El Alto based on a false job offer received via social media.

Municipal police, alerted by a bus company employee about the girl traveling alone to Guadalajara without her family's knowledge, intervened. They intercepted the girl and learned she had been contacted by unknown individuals on social media for a supposed job in the Guadalajara metropolitan area. She had no details about the work, salary, or exact location, only a contact number for the person who would meet her at the bus station.

Police used the provided number to track and locate the 17-year-old suspect near the terminal. He was arrested in the act and handed over to the specialized prosecutor's office for adolescents in conflict with the law. The rescued girl was reunited with her family.

While Jalisco's prosecutor's office reports no increase in minor disappearances compared to previous years, the state's Secretary of Public Security, Juan Pablo Rodríguez, cautioned about evolving recruitment tactics by organized crime. He noted that criminals now tell potential recruits they "can go and come back." The initial contact is not always through social media, and meeting points have expanded beyond bus stations to include commercial plazas, convenience stores, and department store restaurants. Sometimes, friends who have previously been recruited and returned are used to lure others.

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can go and come back.