A new investigation has revealed some of the terms used by cartels to recruit operatives on social media.
The report analyzed 100 accounts and determined they focus on three pillars: hyping up cartels, showing off weapons and a luxurious lifestyle and, in some cases, openly recruiting people.
The videos are mostly targeted at people aged 14 to 24, most of them low-income. The report highlights that the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) spearheads the efforts, with hundreds of linked profiles that glorify criminal organizations and their actions.
The groups use hashtags to illustrate support on social media, but there are also some common terms related to the cartel world altogether, including work for the "maña" and "belicones."
In some cases, the report said, operatives openly say they are recruiting "cooks" for clandestine drug labs, drivers or guards.
People are also pitching themselves for these posts. According to a recent report by Milenio, videos shared on TikTok show a group of at least 15 individuals aged between 17 and 32 years old show them expressing their wish to join the Jalisco cartel and become hitmen.
"I am 21 years old and I am going to work as a sicario for the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación. Nobody is forcing me, I am doing it of my own free will...I am from the State of Mexico," one of the videos shared by a man identified as Ángel "N" said.
Several of the videos have revealed that a CJNG cell known as "Comando Calavera," which operates along the state borders of Michoacán and Jalisco, is reaching out to new recruits in order to convince them to join their ranks.
According to the 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment published by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), social media platforms and encrypted apps have also extended the cartels' reach into every community in the U.S. and across nearly 50 countries around the world.
Major have also turned to video games in order to recruit young people to their ranks. Call of Duty Mobile, Roblox, Grand Theft Auto and Free Fire were some of the games targeted by the Sinaloa cartel to try and lure in new recruits.
Óscar Balderas, a Mexican journalist, told InSight Crime in 2021 that, after minors are invited to meet in person, they are kidnapped and forced to join the cartels.
"It might not look like the most efficient way to recruit gunmen...but it is a discreet way to do it," Balderas said. "It is a way to invite adolescents to reach out on their own will, to gain their trust," he added.
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