MEXICO CITY, June 7 (UPI) -- Mexican drug gangs have a new weapon, the country's military says, trucks converted to heavily armored vehicles.
In Mexico, the vehicles are nicknamed "monstruos" or monster trucks, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Their custom fittings include gun turrets and ports and bullet-proof glass, in addition to armored plates.
"Organized crime has increased its firepower to move personnel and mount counter attacks against the army," Alberto Islas, a security adviser in Mexico, said. "This is the consolidation of an urban guerrilla war scenario."
Soldiers patrolling in Camargo, Tamaulipus, on the other side of the border from Rio Grande City, Texas, found two armored dump trucks in a warehouse, the military said Sunday. Both were capable of carrying a group of fighters from the drug cartels.
Another monstruo was involved in a fight in Jalisco in May. Government forces shot out the tires.
