Fabulous Mexican Cartel Drug Tanks

In Mexico, violence is raging over the government’s active struggle against drug cartels. The latter came up with a very radical solution to gain an advantage in the fight on the streets.

The miracle of engineering and watching the movie “Mad Max” helped the cartels create their own so-called drug tanks.

These home-made armored vehicles in Spanish are called "monstruo" (Monster) for their huge size. The peak of popularity of “tanks” occurred in 2011, but then the military was able to seize the garage of the drug cartel Los Zetas, which was the main platform for the creation of these machines. Also, four drug tanks and 23 cars, already prepared for modification, the authorities were able to capture in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

The operations of the Mexican armed forces to eliminate the production of "monsters" forced the production to go underground. To this day, narcotic tanks are produced, but now they are sheathed with armor from the inside so as not to attract the attention of competitors and authorities.

And now we bring to your attention a photo of the most impressive specimens of drug tanks of their heyday.

The Behemoth model was created on the basis of trucks:



This "monster" was originally a dump truck:



Even small drug tanks were heavily armored over almost the entire body area. In some places, the thickness of the armor reached two inches (50 (!) Mm of armor):



As part of improving the defense, the vehicles were equipped with a double chassis:



For the offensive, drug tanks had rifle turrets and side loopholes through which cartel members could fire from assault rifles:



Some monsters had rams to break through the checkpoint and barrage on the roads:



Here it is.

Via businessinsider