Drug cartels in Mexico are increasingly using car bombs and explosives in drones and roads MEXICO CITY -- MEXICO CITY (AP) — Drug cartels across Mexico are increasingly turning to 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, a small city 360 miles (580 km) northwest of Mexico City.
No one was killed, but the explosion of 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of explosives injured 11 people and damaged more than 60 homes in the city center, Mexico's security chief Omar García Harfuch said Friday during a visit to Zacatecas with President Claudia Sheinbaum. So far this year, Zacatecas has recorded 23 attacks involving explosives, including six involving cars or motorcycles packed with explosives, state Attorney General Cristian Paul Camacho said. Here’s what to know about why the car bombings are raising concern in Mexico, even though their scale remains far below the violence seen in countries such as Colombia.
Victor Manuel Sánchez, a University of Coahuila professor who has tracked car bombings in Mexico in recent decades, said an early period of such violence included a 1994 attack in Guadalajara by the Tijuana Cartel targeting Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who was later convicted in the United States. More recently, he said the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, has increasingly used explosives as it expands its reach across Mexico. Authorities have attributed two recent bombings in the centers of small cities to the group: one in Michoacán in December that killed five people and Sunday’s attack outside a police station 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 to defend or control territory. In 2023, roadway bombs planted by drug cartels in the western Jalisco state killed six people and injured another 14.
A month later, the military acknowledged the growing threat and released its first figures, saying it had seized about 2,800 explosive devices nationwide over the previous 4 1/2 years. The following year, authorities deactivated nearly 3,200 explosive devices in Michoacán state alone. In 2025, an explosive device there killed eight soldiers in one of the deadliest such incidents in Mexico.
Authorities have not released more recent nationwide figures. 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, said car bombs also draw attention and can be used to pressure authorities into negotiations, particularly when criminal groups feel under siege.
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