In the town of Portezuelo, Cosalá, a private vehicle adapted with extremely resistant homemade armor, capable of simulating a military unit, was intercepted. It is a military green Ford Super Duty truck lined with one-inch thick metal plates, designed to withstand .50 caliber bullets. The vehicle also has an enclosure in the cargo area and a 360-degree rotating turret that facilitates the positioning of a shooter.
This "monster truck," as it has been called, was captured on video by local residents and was later transferred under the protection of the authorities to Mazatlán. During the transfer, the vehicle was mounted on a crane escorted by personnel from the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), due to the recent clashes between criminal groups in Culiacán and other areas of Sinaloa that have necessitated the reinforcement of security in Mazatlán with additional personnel.
"Monster trucks" are used by organized crime to instill fear in the population and strengthen their arsenal in confrontations against rival groups or security forces. These heavy vehicles equipped with high-resistance homemade armor have become increasingly common since 2020, when the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) began to threaten and showcase its weaponry in videos.
In general, "monster trucks" are conventional vehicles modified by the cartels themselves, who have acquired the capability and skill to armor and equip trucks with weapons for their own purposes, using them as combat tanks in urban scenarios, towns, or mountain ranges in Mexico.
The construction process of a "monster truck" is based on the acquisition of dump trucks, tractor-trailers, armored vehicles, or other used vehicles that are subjected to modifications to convert them into powerful armored vehicles of high impact and resistance. The discovery of this vehicle in Cosalá has been the result of a joint operation by the Army and the National Guard, who continue their efforts to dismantle the actions of organized crime in the region.
