Four police officers and two civilians were murdered in a coordinated sequence of seven roadside bombings in western Mexico, authorities said on Wednesday. The explosions, according to the governor of the state of Jalisco, were “a trap” constructed by the cartel to murder law enforcement officers.

What Happened?

The late-night explosions in the municipality of Tlajomulco on Tuesday created craters in the road, wrecked at least four vehicles, and injured at least 14 additional persons, according to Luis Méndez, the state’s chief prosecutor.

Initial reports from the authorities stated that three cops were killed and ten persons were injured.

It looked to be the first instance of a Mexican drug cartel using improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, to murder law enforcement officers, and it was the most recent illustration of the open, military-style challenge that the nation’s drug cartels are posing.

The two killed people, according to Méndez, were in a car that just so happened to be driving by when the IEDs exploded in Tlajomulco, a town close to Guadalajara, the state capital. The devices may have been remotely detonated, he said, adding that the explosion “happened at the moment they wanted.”

Twelve of the injured, including three youngsters aged 9, 13, and 14, were also civilians, according to him. Some of the injured, according to him, were in critical condition. Eighth IED that did not explode had to be defused by experts, who issued a warning.

Mexico Conflict

The governor of the state of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro, said that an anonymous caller who offered a volunteer search team information about a covert burial place next to the road laid “a trap” for the authorities.

Millions of doses of lethal fentanyl are reported to be manufactured by the Jalisco cartel and smuggled into the United States while being disguised as Xanax, Percocet, or oxycodone. In the US, these drugs are responsible for 70,000 overdose fatalities annually.

Nemesio Oseguera, or “El Mencho,” the cartel’s head, is one of the people who Mexican and American officials are most interested in finding.

A farmer was murdered by another IED a few days later when the farmer struck it with his pickup vehicle. The explosion, which appeared to have been ignited by, injured the farmer’s kid.

The local Viagras gang, also known as United Cartels, and the Jalisco cartel have been at war for years over control of the region. Trenches, pillboxes, makeshift armoured cars, and drones adapted to launch tiny bombs have all been used in those engagements.

However, since 2021, Mexico has seen the deaths of six volunteer search activists. Activists claim that the cartels have sought to intimidate searchers, particularly if they look into grave sites that are still in use, despite the fact that the reasons for such deaths are still unknown.