Buenavista de los Hurtado, part of the municipality of Heliodoro Castillo, Mexican state of Guerrero. A small town that was the scene of a guerrilla-style attack: the narcos used explosive drones. The budget is uncertain.
A group of hitmen from the historic crime group “La Familia Michoacana” attacked their rival Los Taclos with a huge arsenal of weapons. Assault rifles, grenades and unmanned aerial vehicles carrying ordnance. The protracted firefight claimed numerous lives. On Saturday, a graphic video emerged showing bodies piled on the roof of a damaged pickup truck, then another image of captured weapons being loaded onto the back of a horse. There was everything that confirmed the increasingly military equipment of the gangsters.
The first reconstruction by priest Filiberto Vazquez, head of a human rights association, counted around thirty dead, including possibly civilians who had nothing to do with the feud. However, official sources said there were five dead and numerous wounded. However, there are some calcined remains that cannot currently be identified, just as numerous people have been reported missing. A constant in this conflict with tens of thousands of people missing. In addition, several families in the village fled to avoid being caught in the battle.
Cartels in Mexico have been using drones for some time, copying tactics first seen in the Middle East and then in an expanded form in Ukraine. These are vehicles purchased on the civilian market – often of Chinese origin – that have been converted to “accommodate” explosive charges. They initially appeared in targeted attacks against opponents and security forces. In a second phase, the bandits took them into real battles with their “competitors”: to attack them from a distance, surprise them on their territory or face the use of homemade armored vehicles.