PETALING JAYA, Aug 12 — Gangs are allegedly recruiting members as young as 13 and directly from insider schools, MyWatch co-founder S. Gobi Krishnan alleged today.

Recruitment would begin with gangs offering protection from rival races within school compounds, Gobi said in a report by The Star newspaper today.

“When they turn 15, their ‘big brothers’ will give them a small amount of drugs to distribute, something smart, as police will not suspect the school children, and the boys will earn a small profit from the cut,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

They are later be plied with sex, alcohol and drugs, according to Gobi, before graduating into gang enforcers.

“Then, they will go on to follow the ‘big brothers’ instructions to fight or chop up someone.”

He also added that once in, the recruits’ most likely exit from the gangs would be either death or incarceration.

Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi alleged that 2,600 former detainees of the Emergency Ordinance have since gone on to form gangs with at least 10 members each, resulting in what he estimated to be 266,000 criminals roaming the country’s streets.

“According to the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), from the 2,600 released, they have at least 10 right-hand men, meaning there are 26,000 with the society,” he was quoted as saying by the weekend edition of Utusan Malaysia yesterday.

“These right-hand men also have at least 10 of their own right-hand men, meaning there’s 266,000 people,” Zahid said, roping in these followers as allegedly having contributed to the rise of index crime.

In Parliament last month, Zahid said he had statistics to show that former EO detainees were responsible for most of the country’s recent cases of violent crimes, but declined to provide the data when pressed.