Recent seizures by authorities in two Mexican border states demonstrate how cartels still have access to mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and other explosives as violent turf wars spread terror in large swaths of the nation.
In Chihuahua this week, Mexican National Guardsmen seized 25 grenades and 15,000 rounds of ammunition hidden in a pickup with Colorado license plates. The driver was a U.S. citizen traveling along the Ciudad Juarez-Chihuahua Highway when authorities pulled him over.
In another bust, National Guardsmen in the municipality of San Buenaventura spotted a suspicious vehicle on dirt roads. As the troops approached, the driver sped away and managed to escape. Soon after, authorities found the vehicle in a rural field. A search turned up two rocket-propelled grenades, a disassembled launcher, and a fragmentation grenade.
In the days prior to that seizure, rival groups of gunmen clashed in the region contested by La Linea faction of the Juarez Cartel and allies of the Sinaloa Cartel.
In another seizure this week in the border city of Tijuana, Mexican authorities used police dogs to search a package shipping company. One of the dogs alerted to a package sent from Mexico state containing a working mortar round.
The three seizures in areas controlled or disputed by factions of the Sinaloa Cartel demonstrate organization’s capabilities to acquire and move restricted military equipment inaccessible to the citizens of the U.S. or Mexico.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report
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