A series of recent attacks using improvised explosive devices in Mexico points to a generalization of warfare tactics among criminal groups.
A Mexican army helicopter was flying over a hill in Apatzingán, in the western state of Michoacán, when it was attacked by a criminal group on January 27. The attackers used guns as well as a drone loaded with an improvised explosive device (IED), according to local media reports.
Days earlier, in the municipality of Río Bravo, on the border with Texas in the United States, a Mexican government vehicle detonated an IED that had been placed on the road, injuring its driver.
The use of IEDs seems to be becoming increasingly common in Mexico.
Between 2020 and 2021 only three of these devices were seized, but that figure rocketed to 1,375 in 2022, according to data from the Ministry of National Defense (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional – SEDENA) obtained by InSight Crime.
Since then, the detection of drones has continued to increase. In 2023, the authorities reported 1,681 seizures, and by October 2024, the last month for which data was available, 1,571 had already been counted.
