Juveniles and young adults joining gangs isn't new, but gang police and a criminal defense attorney says it's getting worse in Utah. A 2News investigation found young gang members are conducting business, selling drugs on Snapchat and collecting payment via cryptocurrency.

“[The gang mentality is] just something that doesn’t go away, especially when you’re that young in your mindset," Malinda Jaramillo says. The young gang member who shot and killed Marco Cardenas, Marqus James, was released from juvenile detention in July 2020. In October 2021, James was arrested for being involved in another gang-related murder--this time at a wedding in Midvale.

"They’re not learning interpersonal skills," she says, adding that young people have a very difficult time with coping mechanisms. "Many crimes are committed, such as murder, for personal reasons. You know, maybe they’re dating a girl and the girl cheats on them with someone else so they go kill that person. In the past, it would just be a fight or maybe it would be a confrontation without a fight."

“I think social media and having a broad platform to reach all sorts of people, makes it accessible to kids who haven’t otherwise been exposed to it.”Young gang members are not only buying and selling drugs and weapons on social media. They also use platforms to recruit new members, send threats, and start fights that ultimately end in violence on the street.

“We do have a lot of people that will sell THC cartridges," Bird explains. "They’re getting younger and younger.”Bird says kids as young as middle school will start their own business, selling THC cartridges. That transitions to them being a drug dealer in high school, and then potentially running a trap house.

“Crime and gangs go hand in hand, drug and gangs go hand in hand, violence and gangs goes hand in hand,” says Detective Bird of Utah County Major Crimes.