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A top Mexican official has announced that drug cartels are actively recruiting former Colombian soldiers to both train and strengthen their ranks.

Getting into it: During a national security briefing, Security and Citizen Protection Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed that Mexican drug cartels (specifically the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel) have been actively recruiting Colombians with military training. This statement followed a Los Angeles Times report that included interviews with former Colombian soldiers who claimed they had been providing military training to cartel members.

In an effort to combat this, García said that Mexican immigration authorities have ramped up denials of entry for Colombian men attempting to fly into Mexico City. According to García, 69 rejections were the result of enhanced screening measures designed to detect links to criminal organizations. He said that during interviews, many “mentioned that they had been co-opted by some criminal group.”

García’s announcement followed the arrest of 12 Colombian nationals in the state of Michoacán, all of whom were implicated in a bombing that killed eight Mexican soldiers. While speaking to the press, García said nine of the 12 “were former soldiers,” and the other three “had training in weapons handling.”

According to the hacktivist group Guacamaya, drug cartels are paying Colombians roughly $600 a week.