Resumen

IZCARA PALACIOS, Simón Pedro. From victims of trafficking to felons: Migrant smugglers recruited by Mexican cartels. Estud. front [online]. 2017, vol.18, n.37, pp.41-60. ISSN 2395-9134.  https://doi.org/10.21670/ref.2017.37.a03.

The objective of this paper is to examine what are the methods used by Mexican drug cartels to recruit migrant smugglers and which are the activities carried by former migrant smugglers in these organizations. A qualitative methodology was used, consistent in the realization, between 2011 and 2015, of interviews with 107 migrant smugglers (105 men and 2 women). This paper concludes that after 2013 former migrant smugglers have been recruited by drug cartels in higher numbers without coercion, and that the activities carried out by them are increasingly violent.

Palabras llave : migrant smugglers; drug cartels; Mexico; United States.