Drug cartel 'monster trucks' used in turf wars destroyed by Mexican law enforcement officials

Law enforcement officials with Mexico’s National Prosecutor’s Office destroyed 50 “monster trucks” used by drug cartels in their turf wars.

The trucks are significantly modified by the cartels with armored plates and tank like gun turrets, are commonly known among police as “Frankenstein Trucks.” They were recently seized by Mexican law enforcement officials and have now finally been destroyed, according to a BBC report.

This particular batch of vehicles were owned and modified by a Mexican drug cartel known as “The Scorpions,” a collective of assassins who work for the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico’s oldest and most powerful cartels. Its enforcer wing is a criminal gang known as the Zetas.

The group is also known for regularly engaging in numerous hostilities with the Sinaloa Cartel, the largest and most powerful cartel in the country.

Mexican law enforcement officials with the federal prosecutor's office released images depicting a crane on top of the armored vehicles before they were crushed.

Some of the trucks were painted with cartel markings or masked in in camouflage colors. The cartels often hire armorers to install bulletproof panels to the sides of the trucks and try to install battering rams on the front so they can safely crash through barriers or other vehicles. 

“As they are not easy to maneuver, these ‘monster trucks’ are most often deployed as a show of force or when cartel members expect to be involved in a gun battle,” BBC wrote. “Reinforced turrets from where machine guns can be fired are also a common feature.”

The monster trucks, which first came into common use in 2010, use a type of armor that is assembled and created by the drug cartels. Both the Gulf Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) are known for using them frequently.

This group of trucks were located and taken from the cartels operating in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas, which borders Texas.