“The Cartels use these vehicles to guard their drug trade routes,” said an officer of the Eighth Military Zone, based in Tamaulipas state in the northeast border with the United States. Members of the Army have seized in the region about 110 armored vehicles, including over 30 “Monsters”, which saw them inevitably evoke scenes from the movie “Mad Max”.

Most are heavy trucks that have been shielded in Mexican sweatshops, mainly in Tamaulipas. Some of them have the capacity to hold 12 shooters, the source explained.

During an operation in June 2011 a workshop was dismantled in the town of Camargo, where they seized two units already finished and were ready to be shielded.