Colombia Reports

Over the next two weeks Colombia's Police will be educating students, parents and teachers in areas regarding the scope of the country's criminal law system.

Members of Colombia's Police will spend the next two weeks giving informative classes in schools to educate people about issues such as drug and alcohol consumpiton, the responsible use of gunpowder and the responsibility of adults regarding driving and loaning cars.

According to Police sources, in the last four months, 3,365 children and teenagers have been detained for criminal activities across the country and over the last seven years some 200,000 have been arrested.

The manjority of the arrests have been for drug trafficking, petty theft, weapon carrying, intent to injure and homicide.

Police have also captured 8259 adults responsible for manipulating minors into illegal activity.

According to information collected by Colombia's Police agency the DIJIN, most of the minors arrested were guilty of conduct such as drug trafficking (1186 cases) and petty theft (1245 cases) followed by weapon carrying with 651 cases. Homicide accounted for 96 reported cases.

The Police are focusing their efforts on the communities most affected by this criminal phenomenon - beginning with the Comuna 13 neighborhood in the city of Medellín and the Commune Los Mangos in Cali.

Into these communities have been deployed some 700 additional soldiers - 300 for prevention efforts and 400 as members of a "search bloc" in charge of combating impunity in crimes against minors.

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