Mother didn't know daughter was employed by cartel

Mexican authorities have release some details regarding a 13-year-old girl who was recently arrested while working for the violent drug cartel, Zetas. The girl's mother reported that she believed her daughter was, "Out there with her boyfriend." but police and the girls' confession have shown otherwise. 

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The girl's mother, who asked not to be identified, gave an interview to reporters. She explained that she did not know her daughter was involved in any sort of criminal activities. Police arrested the youth the previous weekend during a confrontation between themselves and several cartel gunmen.

The girl, in a statement to authorities, confessed to working for a month for the cartel and being paid about $800 for her work. Her job was, according to her, to keep track of the people who came into and out of the town of Luis Moya, a small town of about 10,000 inhabitants.
 
In an interview before the media, the girl said that she reported to a 22-year-old woman, whom she called, "La Chaparra," who was also arrested and is being held in jail. Media reporters questioned her asking, What Cartel did you work for? "For the Zetas."
Does your family know this? "Yes."
 
Still, her mother insists that she did not know and learned of her daughter's arrest via the local newspaper. At this time, the 13-year-old girl has been released back to her mother's custody and will not face any jail time. Mexican law in the state of Jalisco specifies that only offenders older than age 14 may serve jail time.

Additionally, minors who commit offenses receive lighter sentences than adults even when the crimes are equally heinous. By example, last month in the state of Morelos, a 14-year-old boy was sentenced to just three years in prison for torturing and decapitating four men.

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