By Teh Joo Lin & Ben Nadarajan

IF THE 'O$P$' scrawls on the walls look more childish nowadays, it may be because they are the handiwork of loan shark runners barely out of their teens.

Those caught harassing debtors to pay up seem to be getting younger, with at least one as young as 12.

Police nabbed 63 youth last year for doing the dirty work for loan sharks when debtors default on repayment. In 2007, 59 youth were arrested.

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