Children in Mexico recruited by volunteer police to stop kidnappings

A volunteer police force in rural Mexico that says it has been overwhelmed by local kidnappings has recruited schoolchildren as young as 12 to join its ranks, the latest sign of how some parts of the country are struggling to cope with organised crime. Armed with rifles and sticks, and with their faces covered, boys and girls paraded around the local sports field this week before joining a patrol in Ayahualtempa, a mountain village in the southwestern state of Guerrero. Violence has recently escalated in Guerrero, one of the poorest states in Mexico. In early January, a drone attack allegedly carried out by drug cartel La Familia Michoacana killed around 30 people, human rights groups say. In Ayahualtempa, four members of a local family have been missing since Friday when they were kidnapped, the Guerrero state prosecutor's office said. This is not the first time minors have been armed in Guerrero, where authorities have struggled to counter powerful drug trafficking gangs. Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start your free trial now: Get the latest headlines: and are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.