There are clashes that do not happen in the war zones of Ukraine or the Middle East, and the fighters do not belong to any army. They are criminal groups with military-grade weapons fighting just a few hundred kilometres from the US border in the western Mexican state of Michoacan. This is how Paulina Villegas and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega described it in The New York Times.

Some of Mexico’s most powerful cartels are engaged in a violent arms race to fight on several fronts: on one side, against the Mexican government, which is under intense pressure from the United States to crack down on drug trafficking; on the other, they fight each other for territory and resources, causing a somersault between their members and civilians caught in the middle of the conflict.
Despite profound disagreements over the measures to be taken to confront them, officials and security analysts in both countries agree that the cartels are amassing new levels of firepower, which is transforming some of these groups into full-fledged paramilitary forces.
Drug traffickers and cartel gunmen no longer use pistols or automatic rifles, but also Claymore land mines, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars made from gasoline tank tubes and armoured trucks equipped with heavy machine guns. They bury improvised explosive devices to kill rivals and modify drones purchased over the Internet into attack weapons loaded with toxic substances and bombs.
According to Mexican authorities, most of the military-grade weapons acquired by some of these groups come from the United States, and up to half a million firearms are smuggled across the border each year. Criminals also reverse-engineer the weapons, sometimes 3D printing parts to manufacture them.
Like other armed groups around the world, the cartels combine old and new weapons, with lethal effects. Drones fly over Michoacan while roads and footpaths used by soldiers and civilians are littered with improvised explosive devices. In the last two years, more mine explosions have been recorded than anywhere else in Mexico. A chilling indicator of the drug war’s evolution.
In the past five months alone, at least 10 civilians – including a 14-year-old boy – have been killed by hidden explosives while working in the fields or walking to school.
Security analysts and Mexican officials say the cartels began to militarise in the mid-2000s, when Los Zetas, a group formed by former members of the military, introduced battlefield discipline, encrypted communications and heavy weaponry to organised crime.
As Los Zetas acquired more military hardware, rivals did the same in an attempt to compete with them. Mexico’s security forces also responded with increasingly sophisticated tactics and equipment. More recently, the United States has brought in its own technology, including drones that search for fentanyl labs.
According to authorities, the cartels are also increasingly manufacturing chemical bombs and loading drones with compounds such as aluminium phosphide – a toxic pesticide that can cause hypoxia and circulatory failure – and other pesticides and poisons.
The increase in drones and improvised explosive devices has coincided with the arrival of Colombian nationals, former soldiers recruited to train cartel fighters. In just over seven months, state authorities have arrested 53 foreigners accused of links to organised crime, including 23 Colombians and 20 Venezuelans.
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