Cartels drop bombs from drones and set vehicles on fire in Michoacan

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Authorities in the Mexican state of Michoacan say they have “restored order” after criminal gangs blocked roads, set vehicles on fire and reportedly attacked a police station with explosives dropped by drones.

“Order has been strengthened in Tierra Caliente (region). Traffic has been restored in Apatzingan and Buenavista and security operations continue,” Michoacan state police said on social media on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Mexican news media reported that drones had bombed the police station in Buenavista. Proceso reported three explosions but no injuries. “This action was followed by shootings, blockades of highways and the burning of vehicles,” the Mexico City news portal reported.

The Excelsior newspaper ran videos on its website of a burning bus and a passenger getting out amid smoke. One of its correspondents reported from behind the safety of a wall that parents in the city had taken their children out of school for fear that the violence would spread.

Citing anonymous police sources, El Financiero attributed the attacks to fighting between criminal gangs identified as Los Viagras, Cartel del Abuelo, Templar Knights and the larger Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The Jalisco cartel has been battling local groups for years for control of drug trafficking and other criminal activities in Mexico’s Tierra Caliente region, which includes parts of Michoacan, Guerrero and the state of Mexico.

A senior Mexican official told The Associated Press earlier this month that cartel drone attacks in Michoacan have killed an unknown number of soldiers. Defense Minister Luis Crescencio Sandoval said the military was acquiring anti-drone systems to combat the threat.

Mexico documented 260 drone attacks with explosives in 2023, the Defense Ministry said, with most of the attacks attributed to the Jalisco cartel.