Jalisco Cartel Uses Explosive Drones to Attack Police, Hurts 2

A Mexican drug cartel has reportedly used drones to drop explosives on police, hurting two officers in the western state of Michoacán on Tuesday. Officials believed that the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was behind the attack.

According to a BBC News report, it was also believed that the drones were controlled in a similar way to the two drones found in the car boot of suspected Mexican cartel members. It can be recalled that two rigged drones were found in a car of suspected Jalisco cartel members in August.

The seized drones had containers taped to them that had been filled with ball bearings and plastic explosives. Officials said the drones, set up to be detonated remotely, could have brought destruction and damage.

The injured police officers were sent to the area to clear roads leading to Aguililla city in Michoacán state that the Jalisco cartel had blocked to impede the security forces' access.

Two Mexican drug cartels are reportedly fighting for control of El Aguaje, a small community in the Aguililla. The said drug cartels are the Jalisco cartel and the rival New Michoacán Family, or the Viagras.

The Jalisco cartel recently staged a series of attacks in the area. In October 2019, Jalisco cartel members ambushed and killed 14 state police officers in El Aguaje, the Associated Press reported.

Earlier this month, state police officers were deployed to restore order. The Mexican drug cartels responded by parking hijacked trucks across roads and blocking police convoys by digging deep trenches across roadways.

Authorities said on Tuesday that they had already used backhoes to fill in many of the trenches. The two police officers injured in the drone attack have already been treated and released from a hospital.

Jalisco Cartel

The Jalisco cartel started its operations after former Sinaloa Cartel capo Ignacio Coronel, alias "Nacho Coronel," was killed by Mexican authorities in July 2010.

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho," the leader and founder of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, joined a Milenio Cartel bloc allied with "Nacho." The Milenio Cartel led by Óscar Orlando Nava Valencia, alias "El Lobo," moved drugs, managed finances, and acted as enforcers for the Sinaloa Cartel in the states of Jalisco and Colima, and later extended into Michoacán and Mexico City.

By the time of Nacho Coronel's death, El Lobo had been captured, and the Milenio Cartel had suffered internal divisions, according to Insight Crime. The Milenio cartel split into two factions, namely, "La Resistencia" and "Los Torcidos," with La Resistencia accusing Los Torcidos of giving up El Lobo to the authorities.

With Los Torcidos evolving into the now Jalisco cartel with El Mencho as a leader, these two cartels engaged in a battle for control over drug trafficking in Jalisco.

In 2015, the Jalisco cartel killed 15 Mexican police officers. It was marked as one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in recent Mexican history.

The Jalisco cartel had also shot down a military helicopter in May 2015. It has also tried to assassinate Luis Carlos Nájera in May 2018. Nájera is a former secretary of Jalisco. Last June, the cartel also tried to kill Omar García Harfuch, Mexico City's public security secretary at the time.

Last year, around 2,000 bank accounts linked to the Jalisco cartel were frozen, and a few of the alleged group's companies used to launder money were shut down. These were done as part of the officials' efforts to go after the group's finances.

The U.S. has offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to El Mencho's capture. It was one of the highest ever offered by the U.S.

Meanwhile, Mexico has offered its own reward of 30 million pesos or $1.6 million. Other senior figures in the Jalisco cartel, such as Erick Valencia Salazar, have a bounty worth $5 million.

WATCH: Mexico Cartel Used Explosive Drones to Attack Police - From Universal Information & Entertainment TV