El Mencho : Mexico Drug Cartel Shows Off Customized Armored Monster Trucks Based On Ford F-250

Back in February, members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) went on a rampage across Mexico after Mexican special forces killed their leader, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, widely known as “El Mencho”.

While less internationally famous than the Sinaloa cartel formerly headed by the now imprisoned Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the CJNG is reportedly the country’s most powerful criminal organisation.

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CJNG is known for its displays of its high-powered, military-style weaponry that had been deployed to fight the government forces, some of which were also used during their latest campaign across the country.

Following the wave of violence that came after the killing of ex-policeman-turned-cartel-leader, a video taken from 2020 resurfaced online showing heavily-armed CJNG members alongside a long convoy of armored monster trucks (locally known as monstruos) emblazoned with the CJNG initials.

Some of these battle tanks are basically Ford F-250 Super Duty XLT pickups modified with enhancements like gun turrets for firing machine guns and camouflage patterns, making it them hard to distinguish from official military vehicles.

“They have huge amounts of money, the latest generation weapons, military-style paramilitary groups and vehicles… and they represent a very severe challenge to the [Mexican] government – above all in small and mid-sized cities where a detachment of 50 cartel operatives can obviously defeat any local police force,” Security expert Eduardo Guerrero warned in 2021.

According to security experts, armoring one of these trucks – often in rural workshops – takes 60 to 70 days and costs about $117,000, before extra features like turrets, bulletproof tyres and battering rams.

While CJNG’s monster truck are based on Ford pickup trucks manufactured in Mexico’s backyard – the United States, the fast-moving Toyota Hilux pickups mounted with machine guns used by armed militia groups are built in Japan.

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