IED event in Mexico on Mon 23rd September 2024

An alert going out to the Border Patrol warns of military-grade weapons being found on the Mexico side of the border near Ajo, Arizona.

Weapons located, per the alert, include four rocket-propelled grenades and eight improvised explosive devices, also known as IEDs, as well as a large amount of ammunition. A scout site was also discovered and then dismantled by Mexican officials.

IEDs found, per the alert, are consistent with those being used by transnational criminal organizations during recent drone attacks in northern Sonora.

This is one example of the “drastic escalation” in the type of weaponry being used at the U.S.-Mexico border, Customs and Border Protection sources say.

Sources within the agency tell NewsNation they’re confident that these weapons would not be used on the U.S. side of the border, especially against law enforcement, as that type of escalation would be horrible for business. However, other agents say because behavior coming out of the criminal cartels has been uncharacteristic lately, they are preparing for anything.

“U.S. law enforcement should be concerned for their safety, especially along the border, because those missiles and those weapons easily come across the border,” Victor Avila, a retired supervisory special agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said.

Issues on the border are escalating after the arrests of cartel members Joaquín Guzmán López and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in late July. López, who is the son of famed cartel leader “El Chapo,” allegedly abducted Zambada and brought him to the United States to be arrested.

At least 10 more people are dead in Sinaloa, Mexico, amid an ongoing rivalry that has led to the death or disappearance of more than 100 people, Mexican media is reporting.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said López and Zambada’s arrests, which were made without Mexico’s knowledge, triggered the current bloodshed.