First Take
If nothing else, give drug traffickers credit for imagination and resourcefulness.
Borderland Beat, a news blog that monitors trafficking and drug-related violence in Mexico, had a story recently about the cartels making use of improvised armored cars, or “narco tanks,” in their battles against one another for control of smuggling routes into the United States.
Assembled in illicit workshops, the narco tanques are made by mounting armor, turrets, weapons and even James Bond-like gadgets on the chassis of SUVs and heavy commercial vehicles, Borderland Beat says.
Apparently the Zetas cartel began using them in Tamaulipas state, across from Texas, but they’ve since turned up in other states where fighting among the cartels is most intense.
Borderland Beat, an English-language site that includes videos, translates and posts stories from Mexican news media but also publishes stories of its own. If you’re interested in what’s going on south of the border, it’s worth checking out.
But be warned, some of the content is graphic.