A volunteer police force in rural Mexico, overwhelmed by local kidnappings, has recruited 12-year-old schoolchildren to join its ranks. It's the latest sign that some parts of the country are struggling to deal with organized crime.
Armed with rifles and sticks and with their faces covered, the boys and girls paraded through a local playground this week before taking part in a patrol in Ayahualtempa, a mountain village in southwestern Guerrero state.
“We can't study because of the illegality,” one of the recruited teenagers told the Milenio TV channel.
The boy explained how, after several lessons, he was able to shoot a gun.
Guerrero, one of Mexico's poorest states, has recently experienced an uptick in violence.
In early January, around 30 people were killed in a drone attack blamed on the drug gang La Familia Michoacana, according to human rights groups.
A local family of four has been missing since Friday in Ayahualtenpa, according to the Guerrero state prosecutor's office.
Local official Antonio Toribio said the minors had strengthened the volunteer police force, doing everything in its power to guard the village of about 700 residents while adults searched for the missing. It's planned.
“We are no longer going to allow them to kidnap us and keep people disappearing,” Toribio said.
This is not the first time a minor has been armed in Guerrero, a state where authorities are struggling to combat powerful drug lords.
