Artisanal products are usually associated with handmade arts and crafts, often those made in indigenous communities. But in Tamaulipas they can also mean narcos’ wheels.

Security forces have seized some 150 “artisanal” armored vehicles in Tamaulipas in their operations against organized crime.  Now, 49 are in the process of being destroyed on orders by the public prosecutor’s office.

The custom-made vehicles were seized in Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, Matamoros, Río Bravo and some small border towns.

The first 25 were destroyed yesterday afternoon in Reynosa in a process in which the added reinforcements and protections are dismantled, leaving them as unusable scrap metal.

Authorities describe the vehicles as instruments of crime due to the structural alterations by which they were armored and because they were used without the proper authorization.

They also said no one showed up to claim them.

Source: La Silla Rota (sp)