Mexican security officials are pointing to a violent power struggle between two of the country’s most powerful criminal organizations after an attack involving explosives struck Ojocaliente, a municipality in the central state of Zacatecas.
Omar García Harfuch, Mexico’s federal Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, said early evidence suggests the assault is connected to the fierce competition for territory between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known by its Spanish initials CJNG. Both groups have spent years battling for control of drug trafficking routes, extortion rackets, and local authorities across several Mexican states.
Zacatecas, a mostly rural state known for its silver mining history and colonial architecture, has increasingly become a flashpoint in this rivalry. Its central location along key highways connecting northern Mexico to Pacific coast ports makes it strategically valuable to smuggling networks, and residents there have endured a rise in cartel-related violence in recent years, including the use of homemade explosive devices and drone-dropped bombs—tactics once rare in Mexico’s drug conflicts.
Harfuch’s comments come as federal authorities continue efforts to curb violence tied to organized crime nationwide, an issue that remains one of the central security challenges facing the current government.
For further details on the attack and the federal response, read the full report from La Jornada.
Source: Ataque con explosivos en Ojocaliente, Zacatecas, apunta a disputa entre cártel de Sinaloa y 'CJNG': Harfuch (jornada.com.mx). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Knight Foundation, BY-SA 2.0 (via Openverse).