...bad guys imprison alien recruits (6)

I believe the answer is:

cadets

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'recruits' is the definition.

'bad guys imprison alien' is the wordplay.
'bad guys' becomes 'cads' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'imprison' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'alien' becomes 'et' (extra terrestrial).
'cads' enclosing 'et' is 'CADETS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cadets that I've seen before include "Trainee army officers" , "Army officer trainees" , "Military trainees" , "Casted as young army men" , "Pupils" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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