InMexico, narco tanks have been extensively manufactured and operated by drug cartels and other gangs involved in theMexican Drug War.[3][4][5][6] They are often modifiedsemi-trucks,dump trucks,pickup trucks, or other large vehicles not intended for such a purpose, and come equipped with varying levels of protection and attack capability. Mexican authorities have seized about twenty such armored trucks in the state ofTamaulipas alone, four of which were later destroyed.[7] Cartels also began to build narco tanks with the armor installed on the interior rather than outside the vehicle, to draw away suspicion from rival drug cartels and the Mexican government. On May 22, 2011, one such vehicle belonging to theSinaloa Cartel was seized in the state ofJalisco.[3] On May 25, that same year, one narco tank was destroyed in a clash between theSinaloa cartel and theLos Zetas known as theBattle of Ruíz.[8] In 2015, Mexican authorities found a narco tank factory inNuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas that had eight vehicles in it, which were in the process of having armor plates withfiring ports added to them.[9] Some narco tanks are equipped with improvisedbattering rams on the front to break throughroadblocks.[10] Narco Tanks were notably used in theBattle of Culiacán.[11][12] Five narco tanks were destroyed in theBattle of Doctor Coss between 13 March and 14 March 2021.[13][14]
