Mexico uses Cybertrucks to fight drug trafficking in Jalisco

(AFP) The state of Jalisco, in western Mexico, which is home to one of the country's most powerful cartels, put three Tesla Cybertrucks into operation to reinforce its operations against organized crime, authorities reported.

The region, hit by violence linked to criminal gangs and drug trafficking, tops the records of missing persons, with 15,000 cases, out of a total of some 124,000 in Mexico.

One of the trucks manufactured by Elon Musk's company was used to stop two police officers who tried to recruit two young men for a drug trafficking group this week, Juan Pablo Hernández, Jalisco's security secretary, told AFP.

The three trucks are part of a $51.1 million investment to acquire 691 vehicles, including 200 motorcycles, state Governor Pablo Lemus explained Tuesday.

Dozens of onlookers were photographed next to one of the Cybertrucks, exhibited Thursday in the Plaza de Armas in Guadalajara, the state capital and the second largest metropolis in the country that will host four games of the 2026 World Cup.

Being integrated into the patrols, the satellite internet of Starlink, another of Musk's companies, allows "quick access to information regardless of where we are," said Hernández.

Rural areas in this region are often the scene of violent events. On Tuesday, at least six soldiers were killed in an area bordering Jalisco and the state of Michoacan by a mine explosion.

The Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), one of Mexico's most powerful mafias, which was designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government in February, has a dominant presence in the region.

Since 2006, when a controversial military operation against drug trafficking was launched, Mexico's homicide rate has tripled to 24 per 100,000 inhabitants.