Key facts
- Mexican drug cartels are increasingly using car bombs, explosives-laden drones, and improvised explosive devices.
- A recent explosion outside a police station in Zacatecas injured 11 people and damaged over 60 homes.
- The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is linked to recent bombings, including the one in Zacatecas.
- Cartels use explosives to intimidate rivals, authorities, and spread fear.
- Mexico has historically resisted labeling cartel violence as terrorism.
Drug cartels across Mexico are increasingly employing car bombs, explosives-laden drones, and improvised explosive devices, a trend that could further strain Mexico’s already tense relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened military action against the cartels.
The latest incident occurred Sunday night outside a police station in Ojocaliente, Zacatecas, where an explosion of 200 kilograms of explosives injured 11 people and damaged over 60 homes. Zacatecas has recorded 23 attacks involving explosives this year, including six involving cars or motorcycles packed with explosives.
Experts say cartels use car bombs to intimidate rivals and authorities, pressure the government, and spread fear among civilians. Carlos Pérez Ricart, an international studies professor at Mexico’s CIDE university, noted that car bombs can also draw attention and be used to pressure authorities into negotiations, particularly when criminal groups feel under siege.
While car bombs are rare in Mexico, they have been used in the past, including a 1994 attack in Guadalajara by the Tijuana Cartel targeting Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. More recently, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has been attributed with two recent bombings, including the one in Zacatecas. The CJNG is among the Mexican criminal organizations designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration.
Mexican cartels began using explosives more extensively about five years ago, dropping them from drones to attack security forces or rival groups and burying explosive devices in the ground. In 2023, roadway bombs planted by drug cartels in Jalisco killed six people and injured another 14. The military acknowledged the growing threat, stating it had seized about 2,800 explosive devices nationwide over the previous 4 1/2 years. In Michoacán state alone, authorities deactivated nearly 3,200 explosive devices in one year, and an explosive device there killed eight soldiers in one of the deadliest incidents.
Mexico has long resisted describing cartel violence as terrorism, partly due to concerns that the designation could invite foreign intervention and harm tourism and investment. Another argument is that terrorism generally involves political or ideological aims, while cartels are primarily motivated by profit. However, civilians have been deliberately targeted in the past, such as in 2008 when grenades were thrown into crowds celebrating Independence Day in Morelia, killing eight people and wounding dozens.
Vanda Felbab-Brown, an organized crime expert at the Brookings Institution, stated, “It is all a bad development in Mexico. We are facing steady intensification of violence. This certainly greatly intensifies the atmosphere of fear and retaliation.” President Claudia Sheinbaum, however, said Friday that the nationwide decline in killings was clear evidence that the government strategy against cartels was working.