20
May
2026
Watch
Recruitment of children by organised crime (debate)
Madam President, a few days ago in Nantes, a 15-year-old boy was shot dead in a drug-related shooting. Two other minors aged 13 and 14 were injured. This is the reality of today's Europe. For too long, some have wanted to believe that the recruitment of children by cartels was a problem specific to Latin America or parts of Africa. But that's not true. This phenomenon is now rampant in our European cities. In our neighbourhoods, 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds, become cabbage, i.e. lookouts for traffickers. Then come deliveries, weapons, account settlements. Mafias use minors because they know that our justice systems are weak and inadequate and that impunity is on the rise. We must stop denial. Narcotrafficking is not a simple crime; It is a criminal activity that recruits child soldiers with considerable resources equivalent to those of large multinationals. We must respond with the strongest possible dismantling of networks, systematic expulsions of foreign criminals, increased criminal sanctions for the exploitation of minors, border control and increased police cooperation. Behind every minor recruited by traffickers is the failure of states and the rise of mafias.