Two alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel were killed on Saturday when the vehicle they were traveling in exploded on the Mexico City-Pachuca highway in México state.

Video footage filmed from another vehicle shows that there was an explosion in the rear of a black SUV as it traveled on the Mexico City-Pachuca libre (non-toll) highway in the municipality of Tecámac. The vehicle subsequently veered out of control before coming to a halt on the opposite side of the highway.

#ElFinancieroTV | Una camioneta explotó cerca del AIFA; 2 personas fallecieron.
📺: @TonyAguirre10 pic.twitter.com/tVO6fa81fh

— El Financiero (@ElFinanciero_Mx) March 31, 2026

The cause of the explosion has not been confirmed. Various media reports pointed to the apparent presence of an explosive device inside the vehicle. It was unclear who may have placed the device in the SUV, or what caused it to detonate.

The two victims were identified as Francisco Beltrán, known as “El Payín,” and Humberto Rangel Muñoz, who was reportedly driving the vehicle. The two men were from Sinaloa and were allegedly Sinaloa Cartel operators, according to media reports.

Rangel is believed to have picked up Beltrán at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) prior to their death. The airport is located in the municipality of Zumpango, which borders Tecámac.

The México state Attorney General’s Office said on Monday that it had opened an investigation into the vehicle explosion. Emergency services and security forces from all three levels of government responded to the incident, the newspaper El Financiero reported. Forensic experts collected evidence from the scene.

For well over a year, rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have been engaged in a bloody conflict related to the alleged kidnapping in 2024 of cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada by Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera. Both men were detained after arriving at an airport in New Mexico on a private plane in July 2024. There was no immediate indication that the vehicle explosion last Saturday was linked to the dispute between the “Los Mayos” and “Los Chapitos” factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.

With reports from El Financiero, La Jornada and UNO TV