Tens of thousands of people have fled the drug wars in Mexico, crossing the border into the US seeking safe harbor from the horrors of cartel violence. In the past, once a person got here, they thought they were safe. But in the mid-2000s, the drug war was spilling over the border into US cities like Laredo, Texas. So the cartels started recruiting American teenagers to become foot soldiers in the war. Bart Reta was thirteen years old when he became an assassin. Gabriel Cardona – once a promising student – was only a few years older when he was sent out to kill. Both worked for the Mexican paramilitary drug cartel known as the Zetas. The teen assassins of the Zeta cartel are the subject of journalist Dan Slater’s new book titled, “Wolf Boys: Two American Teenagers and Mexico’s Most Dangerous Drug Cartel.”
KCRW
