Jalisco authorities report recruitment of seven youths for Sinaloa cartel combat

The government of Jalisco confirmed that seven young people returned after being recruited in the state and sent to fight for criminal groups in Sinaloa. Four of the cases relate to 2025 and three occurred this year. Some youths were located through police operations, while others escaped on their own and made their way back.

Investigators said recruiters use job advertisements on social media and promises of income to lure candidates, and that the youths were first taken to Zacatecas for training, then to Nayarit, before being deployed to Sinaloa. The prosecutor, Salvador González, noted that a few individuals joined voluntarily. The case follows statements by federal security secretary Omar García Harfuch about a former alliance between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel led by the "Chapitos," a partnership that reportedly ended after the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho." Authorities continue to investigate recruitment networks to prevent further enlistment of minors by organized crime.