美国高中生正在向卡特尔出售枪支亚利桑那州的青少年受金钱和地位的吸引，正在购买、盗窃和出售运往墨西哥犯罪集团的武器。
American High School Students Are Selling Guns Bound for Cartels Drawn by money and status, teenagers in Arizona are buying, stealing and selling weapons destined for criminal groups in Mexico.
两名被称为JM的美国青少年武器贩子埃尔·弗拉克在菲尼克斯郊外的沙漠中射击步枪。信用.支持他们还太年轻，买不到啤酒，也刚刚够开车的年龄，但这四个十几岁的男孩已经找到了进入犯罪黑社会的道路。
Two teenage American weapons traffickers known as J.M. and El Flaco shooting rifles in the desert outside of Phoenix. Credit... Supported by They are too young to buy a beer and barely old enough to drive, yet these four teenage boys have already found their way into the criminal underworld.
周末，他们开车进入凤凰城郊外的索诺拉沙漠。我看着他们把AR-15和AK式步枪对着他们的汽车排成一排，摆姿势拍照，并花了下午的时间射击目标。晚上，他们去参加派对、抽大麻并无休止地浏览社交媒体动态。
On weekends, they drive into the Sonoran Desert outside Phoenix. I watched them line up AR-15s and AK-style rifles against their cars, pose for photos and spend the afternoon shooting targets. At night, they head to parties, smoke pot and scroll endlessly through their social media feeds.
据追踪这一趋势的美国官员和人口贩运专家称，这些青少年是美国高中生和年轻人不断壮大的网络的一部分，这些网络正在帮助武装墨西哥一些最强大和暴力的卡特尔。这些青少年说，他们采购手枪和大口径步枪等武器，并几乎专门出售给美国的卡特尔特工。
These teenagers are part of a growing network of American high school students and young adults that are helping to arm some of Mexico’s most powerful and violent cartels, according to U.S. officials and trafficking experts who are tracking the trend. They source weapons ranging like handguns and high-caliber rifles, and sell them almost exclusively to cartel operatives based in the United States, the teenagers said.
在反复采访中，四名年龄在16岁至19岁之间的武器贩子--都是菲尼克斯西部的现任或前任高中生--让我观察了他们如何购买枪支并将其出售给出价最高的人。他们说，有时他们会偷枪然后转售。他们并不忠于某个犯罪集团;相反，他们说，他们的动机是赚钱、获得地位和拥有归属感。
In repeated interviews, four weapons traffickers ages 16 to 19 — all current or former high school students in west Phoenix — allowed me to observe how they buy firearms and sell them to the highest bidder. Sometimes, they said, they steal the guns and then resell them. They aren’t loyal to one criminal group or another; instead, they say, they are motivated by making money, gaining status and having a sense of belonging.
这些美国青少年因其活动属于非法性质，在匿名条件下接受了采访。他们的身份通过官方身份证件得到了核实。我通过加密的WhatsApp群聊和Telegram频道实时观察了枪支交易的进行。他们陈述的其他要素得到了现任和前任美国执法人员及贩运专家的佐证。
The American teenagers spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the illegal nature of their activities. Their identities were corroborated through their official identification documents. I observed gun transactions unfold in real time through encrypted WhatsApp group chats and Telegram channels. Other elements of their accounts were corroborated by current and former U.S. law enforcement agents and trafficking experts.