Vehicle Explosion Outside Coahuayana Police Station Kills 3, Injures 6 Amid Rising Cartel Violence

Explosion Outside Municipal Police Station in Coahuayana Kills At Least Three

An explosion outside a municipal police station in Coahuayana, Michoacán, on Saturday left at least three people dead and six others wounded, local and federal security officials said.

The Attorney General's office said a vehicle detonated on a central avenue in Coahuayana. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene; two additional victims — identified as community police officers — later died at a regional hospital. Six other people were injured, and authorities reported that remains of some victims were scattered around the blast area. Nearby buildings were also damaged and images circulating online showed a completely burned-out vehicle.

Hector Zepeda, commander of the Coahuayana community police, said: 'With this operation (from the federal government) a lot of marines came. We stopped doing patrols because the operation is going on.'

The community police in Michoacán patrol several rural areas; they evolved from civilian vigilante groups that armed themselves more than a decade ago to defend communities from cartels and were later formalized by the state.

The explosion comes amid an intensified federal security push in Michoacán. Authorities have deployed additional troops after two recent high-profile assassinations. Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla was in Mexico City on Saturday marking the seventh anniversary of the Morena party taking office alongside President Claudia Sheinbaum — both officials have faced criticism over the state's deteriorating security situation.

Several powerful criminal groups operate in Michoacán, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), United Cartels and The New Michoacán Family, alongside numerous local splinter cells and factions with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. Criminals in the region increasingly use explosives dropped from drones, buried as mines or planted along roadways. The state security agency reports roughly 3,000 explosive devices were seized last year (up from 160 in 2022), with more than 2,000 seized so far this year.

Michoacán is also a major conduit for chemical precursors used in synthetic-drug production; Mexican authorities dismantled 17 drug laboratories in the state in the past two months. The state is an important agricultural producer — notably avocados and limes — industries long targeted by cartel extortion.

State officials said an 'explosive device' caused Saturday's blast but provided no technical details. Last month, President Sheinbaum ordered 2,000 additional troops to Michoacán, supplementing roughly 4,300 permanent federal forces in the state and 4,000 troops in neighboring states — a deployment prompted by the murders of a vocal lime growers' representative and a mayor who had opposed cartel activity.