Security Researcher: CJNG's Car Bombs Cluster on Its 'Criminal Frontiers' — Guanajuato, Michoacán, Zacatecas

A September 9, 2026 Infobae analysis of CJNG's car-bomb campaign — anchored on the August 30 Ojocaliente, Zacatecas attack (roughly 200kg of explosives, 11 injured, 10 homes with severe damage, 53 with minor damage, 15 vehicles affected) — cited Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila security researcher Víctor Sánchez Valdés arguing the bombings cluster specifically in what he calls CJNG's 'criminal frontiers': Guanajuato (contested with the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel), Michoacán (bordering Jalisco, contested with local organizations), and Zacatecas (where CJNG holds the south while the Sinaloa-aligned Cabrera family/'La Mayiza' holds the north). Sánchez said car bombs serve to demonstrate capacity, intimidate authorities, and deter local cooperation with rivals, prioritizing social and media impact over casualty maximization, and noted the pressure lands ahead of 2027 gubernatorial elections in the affected states. The piece drew on InSight Crime documentation of the ongoing CJNG–'La Mayiza' dispute involving explosives, drones and land mines, and noted three people have been arrested in the Ojocaliente investigation to date.