Active Conflicts & News Megathread September 01, 2025

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[u/OmNomSandvich]

Probably not huge news to those closely following, but NYT has a fairly in-depth report on the up-arming of the cartels and other criminal organizations in Mexico

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/world/americas/mexico-cartel-weapons.html

As usual, large amounts of firearms are smuggled south from the U.S. But what is new and getting worse is the proliferation of IEDs and drones and the use of Columbian as well as Mexican army veterans to train cartel fighters. Speculation on my part, but some of the Columbians might even have fought in Ukraine and then brought their experience to Mexico.

What I think we are seeing is a decent example of Mao's (that Mao) theory of insurgency. As the cartels get more secure, they get more and more well-armed, well-trained, and hard to confront and eventually rival government security forces. Failure to drive the insurgents underground and destroy their caches and freedom of action will make things worse and worse. The article notes that Mexico lacks MRAPs when faced by IEDs. Sending MRAPs to Mexico would be a relatively easy U.S. foreign policy success.

And just as the guns flow South, there is a risk that IEDs and weaponized drones flow North.

[u/Tucancancan → u/OmNomSandvich]

I was curious the type of explosives they were using; the article states: "homemade gunpowder and ammonium nitrate fuel oil".

I wonder if/when they'll start making more advanced explosives? If the cartels have the skills and resources to mass produce meth and fentanyl, it wouldn't be surprising if they branches out. 

[u/OmNomSandvich → u/Tucancancan]

the article also mentions use of 40mm grenades. it's probably a wash on whether it is more difficult to DIY explosive material (given their chemical manufacturing abilities) or to procure military stuff illicitly.