Cartel Turf Wars Will Fuel Recruitment Of Minors To Replenish Ranks, Former DEA Agent Says

Ongoing turf wars among Mexico's most powerful cartels will further fuel the recruitment of minors to replenish their dwindling ranks, according to a former top Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent.

Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the DEA, said that such behavior by criminal organizations has been commonplace for years, but the turf war between the Chapitos and the Mayos has led them to use more minors as hitmen.

"They have lost many operatives. They keep recruiting but are now using children, minors, simply because they need hitmen for these conflicts," Vigil told Infobae.

He went on to say that the demographic is also targeted because its vulnerability. They accept lower salaries and, if caught, receive lower sentences allowing them to return to the organizations more quickly. "It is estimated that there are between 20,000 and 30,000 minors working as hitmen," Vigil said.

"This began to increase about five years ago. I think it's happening more because there are fights between cartels. They also lose operatives in clashes with Mexican security forces. If Mexico doesn't do something to control this, they will lose a lot of youths," he added.

In this context, a recent investigation by Animal Político identified TikTok as the preferred app for criminal groups to recruit young people.

Researchers from the Seminar on Violence and Peace reported in its 2025 New Frontiers for Digital Recruitment study that, out of 100 accounts investigated that were linked to criminal groups, 55% were associated with the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho."

According to data from Mexico's Ministry of the Interior, as of Dec. 2, nearly 7,000 minors and young people up to 29 years old have disappeared in less than a year, and another 505 individuals have been found dead.

Alejandra Arias, researcher and collaborator with the Seminar on Violence and Peace, told Animal Político that cartels primarily use TikTok for two purposes: recruiting minors with fake job offers and spreading propaganda.

"They post videos of clashes and tactical operations. They show men and women with weapons, bulletproof vests bearing cartel insignias, and convoys of pickup trucks moving in open fields. These videos are purely for propaganda purposes," Arias said.

According to Arias, TikTok videos allow cartels to showcase the "criminal lifestyle" and entice young people by highlighting the perceived perks of organized crime, including money and power.

Arias also noted that criminal organizations prefer TikTok over other social media apps because of its low levels of moderation. Groups like the Jalisco Cartel exploit loopholes, posting job offers in the comments section rather than in video captions or the videos themselves.

Cartels also use symbols, hashtags, and emojis to bypass platform rules. By employing certain emojis, numeric codes, songs referencing drug traffickers, and other coded language, they can operate with minimal digital traces, making it difficult for authorities to track them.