‘These are puppets’: How gangs groom teens to deal drugs

We met 14-year-old Kai in a Winnipeg church. We're concealing his identity for his safety. How many communities have you worked out of? I can't even count. It's, I couldn't tell you. He says he was recruited by gangs and sent to remote northern communities to deal drugs when he was just 12. It's like having a bounty on your head. They know you have drugs on you and they're trying to get those drugs. Instead of money, it's drugs. And so they'll kill you for those drugs. Kai says people he looked up to, grown men, enticed him into the life. They could walk up on you like this. All it takes is this. Winnipeg Police Inspector Josh Iwatsky says boys are used by associates of international cartels. To move drugs into remote northern communities. Many of these youth are exploited. They're seen as disposable to the people who are running these networks. We investigated the disappearance of another black youth, Josiah Weblong, who left his Brampton, Ontario home in March 2025. His remains were found over a year later in Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan, 3,000 kilometres away. And we're hoping to find some answers for Josiah's family. And that's the boy you saw inside that house. Yeah. You're sisters. What did you see? He was outside there. I told him, get away from here. His death ruled a homicide. Denny Heathen is a former gang member. He knows exactly how this works, because it worked on him. What we called it was puppets, right? These are puppets. You just got to make them feel like they're appreciated. What is that desperation that they had in their eyes? It's purpose. They wanted purpose. Kai's mom continues to try to keep her son safe, seeking support from police every time he leaves home. But the gangs keep coming back. I don't think this monster ever goes away. The monster exists everywhere.