Mexican authorities on Sunday said at least five people were killed and three others were injured after a car exploded near a police station in the restive western state of Michoacan.
The explosion occurred shortly before noon Saturday local time in front of the police headquarters in the coastal city of Coahuayana, according to the Office of the Attorney General of Mexico, which took over the investigation of the case.
The state prosecutor’s office increased the initial toll from three fatal victims to five, adding that three of them were local police officers.
According to Héctor Zepeda, community police commander, the explosion was so powerful that human remains were scattered throughout the area.
At least three of the six drug cartels the Trump administration has designated as terrorist organizations – Jalisco New Generation, United Cartels and The New Michoacan Family – operate in Michoacán, along with a large number of homegrown split armed groups, some supported by the Sinaloa Cartel.
the assassination of Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo in Michoacan it sparked two days of youth-led demonstrations in November, with protesters setting fire to public buildings and clashing with police, resulting in more than 100 injuries.
Manzo, who is 40, had gained popularity as a crusader against organized crime and campaigned on the fight against Mexico’s notorious drug cartels.
The use of explosives – dropped by drones, buried like mines or hidden along roads – has been an increasingly common technique used by criminal groups in the region, although it is not typical to place them in cars.
The police force is one of several that formed more than a decade ago during a civilian self-defense movement to fight the cartels. Community police forces were later formalized by the state, although in some areas they had been infiltrated by criminals.
The explosion occurred while the governor of the state, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, was participating in a public event with President Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City to celebrate seven years of government by the ruling Morena party.
For twenty years, various organized crime groups have fought for control of the territory because Michoacán is a gateway for the chemical precursors used in the manufacture of synthetic drugs. They also have another lucrative business: extortion.
In October, Bernard Bravoleader of lime growers in Michoacan, was killed after repeatedly denouncing the extortion demands of organized crime on producers
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