Why Mexican cartels are increasingly using car bombs and other explosives

Mexican cartels are turning more often to car bombs, explosive-laden drones and improvised devices, even though the scale of the violence remains far below that seen in countries such as Colombia.

The latest incident came Sunday night outside a police station in Ojocaliente, a town in north-central Zacatecas. The blast involved 200 kilograms of explosives, injured 11 people and damaged more than 60 homes in the city center, Security Chief Omar García Harfuch said Friday during a visit to the state with President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Zacatecas Attorney General Cristian Paul Camacho said the state had recorded 23 attacks involving explosives this year. Six involved cars or motorcycles packed with explosives. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, and the Sinaloa Cartel have fought for years over control of the state.

Car bombs remain rare in Mexico, but Victor Manuel Sánchez, a University of Coahuila professor who has tracked such attacks, said they have appeared at earlier points in the country’s criminal violence. He cited a 1994 Guadalajara attack by the Tijuana Cartel targeting Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. More recently, authorities have attributed bombings in small cities in Michoacán and Zacatecas to the CJNG, which the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organization.

Cartels began using explosives more extensively about five years ago, dropping them from drones against security forces or rival groups and burying devices to defend or control territory. Roadside bombs in Jalisco killed six people and injured 14 in 2023. The military later said it had seized about 2,800 explosive devices nationwide over the previous four and a half years. Authorities deactivated nearly 3,200 devices in Michoacán the following year.