MEXICO CITY (AP) - On Sunday, Mexican authorities arrested eight Colombians in the western state of Michoacán, who were presumed to be part of a criminal group dedicated to the manufacture of explosives for drones, an weapon to which drug trafficking cartels are increasingly resorting.
The arrests were made during an operation in the town of Catalinas in the Buenavista municipality, which is part of the so-called Tierra Caliente de Michoacán, in which elements of the Army, the National Guard and the state police participated, the Ministry of Public Security of Michoacán said in a statement.
The eight Colombians were arrested there, who are presumed to be members of a group that manufactures explosives for drones used by a criminal organization, state authorities said. Several criminal groups operate in Michoacán, including the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which maintains fierce disputes with other organizations - such as the Michoacana Family cartel - over control of the territory.
Four improvised explosive devices, a pistol, 16 magazines, and 1,040 cartridges were seized from the detainees.
After the arrests, several road blockades were reported on Sunday in the Buenavista municipality, which the authorities attributed to members of criminal groups.
Last week, the authorities discovered an improvised workshop in the western town of Teocaltiche, state of Jalisco, which was used to manufacture bombs transported by drones. At the scene, the police found 40 small cylindrical bombs with fins and bomb material, including about 20 kilograms of metal shrapnel and 7 kilograms of gunpowder.
The Army indicated in August that drug cartels had increased the use of bombs carried by drones, something unknown in Mexico before 2020. In the first eight months of the year, 260 attacks of this type have been recorded.
However, even that figure can be an underestimation. The inhabitants of some areas of Michoacán say that bomb attacks from drones happen almost daily.