Shocking report reveals that Organised crime groups in Mexico have become the fifth-largest employer in the country

A shocking report has unveiled that organized crime groups in Mexico have become the fifth-largest employers in the country.

A new study, published in the journal Science, indicates that Mexican cartels may employ more than 175,000 people, as they increasingly recruit to compensate for losses due to the imprisonment or death of members.

Researchers developed a mathematical model that employed data on homicides, missing persons, and incarcerations to monitor cartel recruitment.

The primary objective of the research is to provide insights for the government to formulate a more effective strategy in combating the cartel problem by understanding their recruitment patterns and operational strategies.

Over the past decade, 37 percent of cartel members have been killed or incarcerated by various countries. This has led to a surge in recruitment, particularly in Latin American nations like Mexico. A July report by the US Drug Enforcement Administration indicated that the two largest cartels, Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation, employed over 44,800 individuals.

However, the recent report highlights that these numbers do not fully capture the extent of the issue, as the model only accounts for individuals directly involved in high-risk activities and not those who assist with money laundering and movement.

Victoria Dittmar, a researcher at Insight Crime, emphasized the challenge of defining cartel membership, particularly when considering individuals like politicians who may receive money or those who cooperate with the group on a single occasion.

The study explores different strategies to address organized crime, drawing attention to Mexico and El Salvador’s differing approaches. It suggests providing young people with more opportunities and economic incentives to deter them from joining cartels, similar to Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s “hugs, not bullets” policy. However, this approach has not effectively curbed the problem in Mexico.

In contrast, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has significantly reduced violence by taking the opposite approach: mass incarcerations that have led to accusations of systematic human rights violations and imprisonment of around 2 percent of the country’s population.