Mexican teens turn to kidnapping in drug war city

Mexican teens turn to kidnapping in drug war city

ca.reuters.com

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - School dropout Toby was just 15 when he and his friends started kidnapping businessmen, truck drivers and lawyers for ransom in Mexico's most violent city, Ciudad Juarez.

He says he made up to $45,000 a time with the abductions, and shared the loot with his friends.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Before I make my own comments there is one more quote from page two I'd like to add.

No official data is available on minors staging kidnappings in Ciudad Juarez, but Eustacio Gutierrez, a judge dealing with local juvenile delinquents, said he hears cases daily. Youngsters typically get hold of guns on the city's black market, start tracking wealthy residents and kidnap them.

"I've handed down sentences as long as 12 years," he said.

ca.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

True it is tough for a teen drop out to find a job of any kind... but some of these kids aren't doing it for food money, but the thrill and prestige... Lets face it... getting 45 thousand in Ransom is a lot of money esp to a kid... cell phones girls games maybe a nice car... that's everything a teen dreams about... right... until they kidnap the wrong person and wind up dead... of course sending to prison just teaches them other skills B&E and who knows maybe they can work for the cartels?

reply to post by DaddyBare


If the media can be believed, ( and I have a friend who has family in Mexico, and her cousin who is a police officer there has been kidnapped and missing for weeks now so I think its at least partially true) then we really have to ask ourselves WHY our politicians are not doing more to reinforce that border.

In fact, while Mexico seems to be spiraling into a nation where the cartels run things, we seem more and more intent on integrating with that nation as our politicians push more and more towards an NAU.

Its because they dont care about the good of America, and her people, they are about ensuring their rich friends make as much money as possible. We need to really put pressure on them to just stop it. And letting the decent people flood out of Mexico into the US isnt helping matters. As harsh as it sounds, if you want that country to do better, you need to stop ALL the traffic into the US, and force the people there to clean up their mess if they want a better life.

Just like WE need to clean up the mess in our government right now, and stop concerning ourselves with what this nations leader or that nations leader is doing to his people. WE need to make OUR leaders treat us better.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


First let me say... I agree with you %100 on closing the border and enacting tougher measures on ne'erdowells..
however...
this story isn't about cartels or drug runners... it's about some board teenagers who for whatever reasons have turned to kidnapping to make money, the thrill, the glory...hell they might not even know why their doing it other than for something to do....

God help us all if this becomes one of those teen fads... kidnapping for fun and profit...

reply to post by DaddyBare


Well, you really cannot discuss what these teens are doing in any meaningful way without acknowledging the cartels and the rest of what is going on down there.

Where are they getting that idea? Who has been kidnapping people and getting away with it? Why cant the police really prevent it? Why are the border towns so out of control?

If you just want people to say, "oh thats horrible' okay. Oh, thats horrible. But it is the cartels, and their influence in border towns, and their war on the Mexican police in those towns that is making it possible for teenagers to get away with this kind of thing, and that is teaching (by example) them to use these kinds of "mafia" style money making techniques in the first place. And we, the United States, are enabling and encouraging in many way the cartels by allowing drugs, people, money and guns to freely flow across our southern border.

It never fails to amaze me that when any topic here gets posted about the situation in parts, yes PARTS of Mexico, that almost immediately some people try and turn this into a discussion about US border policy.

The topic on discussion here is Mexican teens turning to kidnap for ransom to make a living.

My nephew is 12 pushing 13. a quiet boy, who enjoys mechanics. I hope one day I can take him to work with me to show him what I do with aircraft, and maybe inspire him to work towards something like that. Whereas it would be very easy in the poor area of the city where he lives to get involved, or be pushed into gang life.

The economic situation in Mexico does not help the matter either. International corps coming in, and yes creating jobs. by the BUCKET load. but we know what JOB means don't we. Just over BROKE. and is Mexico Broke is sitting on a street corner washing windows broke. In the US, bums do this for spare change, In Mexico people do this for a living.

Yes there are people and groups who are actively trying to develop the country, and make it a better, stronger place. I really don't know what it will take to break this cycle. maybe actually paying people a decent wage for doing a decent job. This is a place struggling to get to grips with the likes of ISO9001 and places insisting its workers have degrees to do skilled hand labour. and then end up cutting the workforce who are master craftsmen but no degree. Yes it is messed up. and the Political establishment, and Private business need to take the lead, for the sake of our security and prosperity, which is for all Mexicans a very achievable thing. They just have to get over the mind set, of thinking they need to live poor, and that work is cheap in Mexico. Well it's not.and does not need to be.

This is the topic, and there is plenty to discuss. Not US border Policy, which has been done to death here,

A lot of these cartel families used to keep things like these activities fairly well reigned-in. Their "intelligence" on the street 'back in the day' kept them fairly well abreast of who the miscreants were. Thanks to the instability of this War there is no longer that cooperation between law enforcement and the vice providers that did a great share of keeping things quiet and keeping the people safe.

One hand washed the other, as it were. Now those rare mand isolated occurrences are becoming commonplace because the politicos thought they could improve on the old ways. The results are what you read about in the papers. Some of this used to happen but not like it does today.

It never was a 'perfect' system, though many thought so. Tell me we've made improvements on this and I will know you know nothing of value, just pass along the propoganda.

A few months ago there was an announcement about a new faction moving in that had the blessings of the people. They pledged to keep the people safe from the bad elements. A couple weeks later, true to their word, a figure was hang from an overpass leading out of town. The note attached to the body said "We killed him because he was a bandit, thief, extortionist, and kidnapper." Of course the US media was outraged and jumpedon the story demanding Mexico reign-in the criminal element that could have perpetrated such a crime against a fellow man. Justice takes many forms. As far as that bandido, I know everyone in town misses him dearly.

reply to post by Erongaricuaro


Most likely the Zetas. A reformation of sorts of the old Zapatistas. Ex Mex Military types.

Well good I say, if they do the job better than the corrupt Policia Federal and those bloody Judicia and spur them on to do a better job rather tan looking for a payday, then good.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


you make a good point... they did learn by example...
but it is not the cartels entirely to blame...
there are more forces at work down there than just the cartels... in many places the police are even worse!
they were wrong to look for the US to help... All we've ever done is screw them over... yeah we gave them 1.4 billion to fight their drug war... and what did they get in return??? US intelligence has taken over operations of their military, US drones fly free over their air space... Customs DEA and FBI agents had free reign in their country... now imagine if you will what would Americans think if Mexican troops turned up in LA or New York... demanding control of our Army police departments... and it doesn't end there

Lots of big US companies moved to Juarez... Brigg and Stratton to name but one
they opened factories but paid next to nothing to their workforce...
Millions of poor flocked to Juarez for these jobs hoping to make a better life for themselves and what did they get??? $4 a day, 7 day workweeks and no benefits.

It wasn't just the American worker who got shafted by NAFTA...

Originally posted by JakiusFogg
It never fails to amaze me that when any topic here gets posted about the situation in parts, yes PARTS of Mexico, that almost immediately some people try and turn this into a discussion about US border policy.

What parts of Mexico?

BORDER towns perhaps? Are you familiar at all with the geography?

And clearly SOMEONE did not read the article linked to, since they want to preach to others that cartels are not relevant to the topic.

ca.reuters.com...

But a turf war between Mexico's most-wanted trafficker, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman and the powerful Juarez cartel has frightened off tourists, sparking a mindless spiral of killings that has laid waste to the manufacturing city and destroyed job prospects for the city's youth.

from the same (unread) article....

While the 9,300 drug war dead in Ciudad Juarez since early 2008 has scared away U.S. teens from getting involved in smuggling drugs across the border, a lust for money and status is trumping fear for Mexican youngsters.

"All the businesses are shutting down, so what opportunities do young people have?" said Marc Marquez, deputy chief of juvenile services for El Paso County. "It is a vicious cycle. By the time they are 15, they are so desensitized."

reply to post by DaddyBare


Did YOU read the article?

Did ANYONE read the article?

The article itself points the finger pretty squarely at the cartels and the knock on effects of all the drug violence in the border towns.


(ie; that all the kidnapping of Americans for ransom etc. is seriously hurting the tourist trade that used to bring in a lot of jobs and money into the border towns.)

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


Firstly. I LIVE in Mexico. And yes PARTS of Mexico. people talk about it like the whole place is a burning ruin. where I live, I might as well be worried about the troubles in Juarez, then way someone in France is worried about problems in Poland. they distances are the same.

You want to trade geography. Go ahead.

You want to discuss US Border Policy, there are a million threads here about it,.

You want to discuss the socio-political problems affecting Mexico right now. We can do that too.

reply to post by JakiusFogg


So you didnt read the article. You just want to talk smack to the people who did, and who are discussing the issues the article brings up.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


I call BS. as bad as they are, squarely blaming the cartel for all the woes is a cop out for the politicos. It is just too convenient. As you can blanket cover everything with that whilst ignoring the piss poor job being done by those supposedly trying to protect the country. And I don't mean just politicians.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


Yes I did read it...
but I think to blame the cartels for this madness is... just a cop out...
cartels are to blame for everything these days...

I think everyone is so quick to blame the cartels without ever addressing the deeper social issues...
better education, better employment, a government that respects her citizens... none of these are easy answers...

Still to blame a teenagers bad behaviour on the cartels is to turn a blind eye to the real problem... why did turn to this in the first place??? answer that question and win a prize...

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


Screw the article. I don't need some bod to tell me the realities of living in Mexico. Even from the first line you can tell it is just another piece of human interest propaganda, designed to try and draw attention away frpom the real issues. simple as.

reply to post by JakiusFogg


I dont see why you have such a hard time believing the cartels and their drug war are destroying the border towns. They are.

I lived in New Mexico for 15 years. Ive only been in Tennessee for the last year and a half or so. And over the 15 years I lived in a border state, the number of people I knew willing to drive down and spend the day, weekend, shopping, drinking, etc. has dropped so dramatically that even my friends who have family down there dont go to visit for the most part.

I was raised in Hawaii, so maybe YOU cant see how a place which depends heavily on tourist dollars for its economic well being might be severely damaged by a drug war, and the kidnapping and holding for ransom of American tourists, but I sure can. Sure, the serial killings down there didnt help either, and they are likely unrelated to the cartels, but the drug cartels ARE having a serious impact on Mexico's border towns, and US border towns. And this article is about that most quintessential of border towns, Ciudad-Juarez.

Pemex has struggled in recent years to stop a steady slide in crude-oil production since 2004, or even to meet its internal goal of pumping at least the 2.6 million barrels a day it averaged in full-year 2009.
source

Mexico is a state without a future.

The economic situation in Mexico does not help the matter either.

Mexico is another reason we should get rid of NAFTA. NAFTA hurts Mexico the most, the Mexican government took down many barriers against the U.S, but the U.S erected even more barriers against Mexicans. Basically the U.S expanded its market into Mexico, but didn't afford Mexican producers the ability to adapt to a new division of labor, because whatever goods Mexico had a comparative advantage in, the U.S would deny that advantage through the use of barriers.

Originally posted by DaddyBare

Still to blame a teenagers bad behaviour on the cartels is to turn a blind eye to the real problem... why did turn to this in the first place??? answer that question and win a prize...

No, you wouldnt win a prize on ATS. You would just have several people jump on you butt bitching at you to "discuss the topic" when the topic actually was what you were discussing. And the article IS trying to build an argument that the lack of jobs, caused by the drop off in tourism, which is caused by people being afraid to go there because of the drug war and violence, is the root of the problem.

Agree with that or no, this is about a lot more than bored teenagers. There are bored teenagers everywhere who arent kidnapping people for ransom money.