Drug cartel assassins have been barging into schools carrying guns and trying to indoctrinate children into trafficking.
There have been several reports from across Mexico this week of different cartels taking over schools and trying to lure the pupils into a life of crime.
In the state of Zacatecas, armed assassins from both the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel entered a number of schools.
According to Blog Del Narco, teachers at one school were forced to cancel classes for 141 kindergarten, primary and secondary students.
Speaking to local media one teacher said: "They took the liberty of going into the bathroom.
"Sometimes I was teaching the class and they would come in just like that.
"They would go to the store and offer them money, or give them something, just like that."
Another teacher claimed that cartel members loaned their customised armoured vehicles to teenagers.
Classes have now been cancelled in Sarabia, Palmas Altas, Cieneguitas and Guadalupe Victoria in Zacatecas, a state on the front line of the war between the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel.
Teachers said that the rising wave of executions, kidnappings and extortion also played a part in the decision to cancel classes.
According to the government's statistics, Zacatecas had the highest homicide rate of any Mexican state in 2021.
A parent said: "My child was attending the same [school] here, but things got complicated and the teacher told me that we were going to continue online."
There were also similar reports from the state of Guanajuato this week, just to the south of Zacatecas.
A school in the Urireo district of Salvatierra was forced to cancel classes due to threats from the CJNG, who then forcibly closed the school and graffitied their initials onto the front gate.
The school remains closed despite furious parents filing complaints to the State Attorney General's Office.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.
Source: Read Full Article