A Detroit narco officer: ''Despite all we do, it's going to be impossible to stop gangs from recruiting these kids. It is a matter of economics. You're 12 years old, living in a Detroit housing project, your parents are out of work, and some guy in a fancy car comes by and tells you he can help you make $300 a day. You're going to listen.''

United States Attorney Leonard R. Gilman said: ''Part of the problem is that by using these juveniles, who can't be prosecuted in adult courts, the leaders of the operation have managed to insulate themselves from law-enforcement efforts. Worse, we're trying to catch men who the kids working on the streets see as folk heroes.''