Some 19,000 underage criminals were tried before Colombian justice in the country's thirteen biggest cities, Caracol Radio reported Friday.
The offenses the minors were tried for were robbery, drug trafficking, the illegal carrying of firearms, assault, murder and sexual offenses.
Authorities are concerned about the increased involvement of minors in criminal groups and drug gangs and have earmarked 1.3 billion pesos (US$630 thousand) to improve the judicial processing of these youngsters.
