Circuit minors and illegal regimes in Tamaulipas, Mexico

Abstract

This work aims to explore the strategies that organized crime groups use to recruit minors in northeastern Mexico. Specifi cally, the work analyzes the participation of “circuit minors” (migrant minors residing at the border and who irregularly and frequently cross into the United States) in migrant or drug traffi cking to get to know these strategies. Theoretically, the concept of “illicit regimes” is appropriated with reference to organized crime groups, particularly about their relationships and connections to operate outside the State and the law. Methodologically, open interviews conducted with “circuit minors” and key informants contacted at the Tamaulipas border are used, as well as videos and internet notes, reports and research transcripts. Based on the results, it is argued that to recruit minors, organized crime groups deploy strategies that value diversifi cation into new markets or illegal businesses; they display an alleged criminal “social responsibility”; they defi ne the selection of staff in their groups; and they weigh staff risks when they do not conform to their standards.