The Post said Mexican authorities have tallied 72 grenade attacks on police and soldiers in the past year.

Grenades, car bombs escalate Mexico strife

By News on the Net
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Source: UPI

JUAREZ, Mexico, July 17 (UPI) -- Mexico's drug wars appear to be escalating with the use of car bombs as well as hand grenades apparently stolen from military arsenals, officials said.

Officials in Juarez said a car bomb went off near federal police headquarters Friday, killing four people in what Mexican authorities called a well-planned trap.

The Los Angeles Times Saturday said the explosion was the first car bomb in Mexico in the four years since President Felipe Calderon increased government pressure on the powerful narcotics cartels.

"This is an escalation and a challenge," Jose Reveles, an expert in criminal violence and author of the book "The Uncomfortable Cartel," told the Times.

The traffickers apparently have a source of weaponry in other Latin American nations. The Washington Post reported that hand grenades shipped to Central America during the Cold War have been turning up in the hands of the cartels.

The Post said Mexican authorities have tallied 72 grenade attacks on police and soldiers in the past year. While casualties have been small compared to the overall carnage of the drug wars, grenades have a psychological impact on police who can find themselves quickly overwhelmed by the weapons.

U.S. experts told the newspaper that the United States is not the only grenade supplier in Mexico. Asian and European models are also turning up, possibly coming in through Cuba to leftist guerrillas in the region.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/07/ ... 279382616/