Drug Cartels' 'Monster' Trucks: Latest Weapon In Mexico's Escalating Narco Wars

Mexican drug lords are transforming ordinary pick-up trucks into terrifying Mad Max-style tanks as they ramp up their fight with law enforcement agents, rival gangs and anyone else who gets in their way.

Kidnapping Mechanics And Stealing Truck From The U.S.

At gunpoint, local mechanics are being forcibly recruited to rehab already huge trucks with battering rams, thick steel armoring, gun turrets to prop machine guns and rocket launchers. 

The so-called monster trucks are then painted in camouflage patterns, which make them hard to initially distinguish from official military vehicles except they’re usually emblazoned with the cartel’s initials and logos. Many of the pickup trucks used to make the narco-tanks are stolen from the U.S. with Chevy Silverados and Ford F-150s the most sought-after models.

Menacing Message

Security analyst Romain Le Cour Grandmaison told the New York Times that the trucks are meant to send a threatening message to rival gangs and security officials in the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 

"The monsters are the way to send the message, ‘I’m in charge, and I want everyone to see I’m in charge’,” said Le Cour, senior expert at the Switzerland-based Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime. “These are commando-style groups looking to replicate special forces in how they’re armed, how they’re trained, how they look.”

The NY Times reported that Mexican authorities seized over a dozen tanks in Tamaulipas, across the border from Texas. In Tamaulipas alone, more than 260 armored trucks were destroyed by the authorities since 2019. The Attorney General’s Office warned that modifications to the vehicles represented a new danger to local communities as well as law enforcement agencies.

"From the weapons they use to the vehicles they drive, the involvement of members of specialized military units in criminal organizations has led these groups to emulate and compete with the country’s elite forces," wrote the New York Times.

What Happens To The Kidnapped Mechanics?

Security expert Héctor Romero Sánchez said not all the mechanics are released alive after finishing their jobs.

"Those workshops can be in different parts of the Mexican Republic. If the technicians are lucky they are set free and leave. Unfortunately, when they’re not so lucky they are killed," Sánchez told Foro TV.

Photo: Courtesy of Mexican Attorney General’s Office