A vehicle explosion in Coahuayana, Michoacán, on Saturday left five dead – including three community police officers – and seven injured, prompting an initial investigation into potential terrorism charges. Photo taken from social media Federal authorities have since clarified that the incident is being investigated as a crime of organized crime, highlighting the persistent challenges of cartel violence in the region, often called “Mexico’s soul” [[2]]. The investigation, led by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime, is focused on determining the motives and affiliations behind the attack on the community police force, which has a history of clashes with powerful cartels [[1]].
▲ A Dodge Ram pickup truck involved in a deadly explosion arrived from Colima, according to authorities in Michoacán.Photo taken from social media
César Arellano, Iván Evair Saldaña, Ernesto Martínez and Marco Antonio Duarte
Reporters and Correspondents
Monday, December 8, 2025, p. 9
Mexican federal prosecutors have clarified that the investigation into a vehicle explosion in Coahuayana, Michoacán, centers on organized crime, not terrorism.
Federal sources said the case was initially referred to the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Terrorism Investigation, Stockpiling and Trafficking of Weapons, which falls under the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (Femdo), leading to confusion in the initial official statement released Saturday.
Carlos Torres Piña, the state’s Attorney General, said in a press conference Monday that a Dodge Ram Dakota pickup truck originating from Colima was involved in the incident. The truck arrived at a community police facility in Coahuayana, where it exploded, killing five people – three community police officers and two unidentified individuals, including the driver – and injuring seven others.
Torres Piña stated that 12 vehicles were damaged in the blast, including two armored Chevrolet Suburban SUVs belonging to the community police force.
Video surveillance footage shows the vehicle entering Michoacán via Federal Highway 200 Manzanillo-Lázaro Cárdenas, arriving in the town of San Vicente at 8:35 a.m. and remaining there until at least 9:30 a.m. before proceeding to the center of Coahuayana.
Torres Piña specified that the explosion occurred on Allende Street, in front of the community police base, with a blast radius estimated at 300 meters.
The community police force, led by Héctor Zepeda Navarrete, known as El Comandante Teto, a former member of self-defense groups, remains active and operational in the area. The force has previously clashed with the Los Caballeros Templarios and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels.
Addressing the confusion surrounding the initial reports Saturday, Attorney General Ernestina Godoy released a statement Monday clarifying that an investigation had been launched into “the crime of organized crime,” in coordination with the Secretariats of National Defense, the Navy, and Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), as well as the National Guard (GN).
On Saturday, the prosecutor initially announced an investigation “against whoever may be responsible for the crime of terrorism.”
Godoy said that 15 experts from the Federal Forensic Expert Center and 11 federal ministerial police officers, both from the Criminal Investigation Agency of the FGR, are currently in Coahuayana. These personnel specialize in field forensics, photography, medicine, genetics, telecommunications, land transportation, engineering, architecture, fire and explosives, and forensic chemistry, ballistics, and fingerprint analysis.
The investigation will be led by Femdo, in ongoing coordination with the federal security cabinet, including the Defense, Navy, SSPC, and GN.
The clarification from federal authorities comes as investigations continue into the deadly explosion, which underscores the ongoing challenges of organized crime and violence in the region.
