The Prosecutor General investigated 98 cases of minors involved in
homicides in the first six months of 2009. There were as many
homicides by minors between January and July of this year as there were
in the whole of 2008.
According to Bogota authorities, minors primarily commit homicide because of fights between gangs or because they are contracted as hit men, El Espectador reported.
Minors contracted by adults to commit murder generally receive between 500,000 and 1 million pesos (US$200-400) and are involved in drugs, according to Radio Caracol.
So far this year Bogota Metropolitan Police have begun the prosecution of 14 minors between the ages of 14 and 17.
Minors who convicted of crimes such as murder, kidnapping and extortion are generally sentenced to 2 to 8 years in juvenile detention.