Car bomb kills 5 people, including 3 officers, in front of police station in Mexico

Mexican authorities on Sunday said at least five people died and three more were injured after a car exploded near a police station in the restive western state of Michoacan.

The explosion took place shortly before noon local time on Saturday in front of the police headquarters in the coastal city of Coahuayana, according to Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, which has taken over investigation of the case.

The state prosecutor’s office raised the initial toll from three fatal victims to five, adding that three of them were local police officers.

According to Héctor Zepeda, commander of the community police, the explosion was so powerful that human remains were scattered throughout the area.

At least three of the six drug cartels that the Trump administration has designated as terrorist organizations – Jalisco New Generation, United Cartels and The New Michoacan Family – operate in Michoacán, in addition to a slew of homegrown armed splinter groups, some supported by the Sinaloa Cartel.

The killing of Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo in Michoacan sparked two days of youth-led demonstrations in November, with protesters setting fire to public buildings and clashing with police, resulting in over 100 injuries.

Manzo, 40, had gained popularity as a crusader against organized crime and campaigned on fighting Mexico’s notorious drug cartels.

The use of explosives – dropped from drones, buried like mines or hidden along roads – has been an increasingly common technique used by criminal groups in the region, although it is not typical for them to be placed in cars.

The police force is one of several that formed more than a decade ago during a civilian self-defense movement to fight the cartels. The community police forces were later formalized by the state, although in some areas they had been infiltrated by criminals.

The explosion happened while the state governor, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, was participating in a public event with President Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City to celebrate seven years of government by the ruling Morena party.

For two decades, various organized crime groups have fought for control of the territory because Michoacán is a gateway for chemical precursors used in the manufacture of synthetic drugs. They also have another lucrative business: extortion.

In October, Bernardo Bravo, a leader of lime growers in Michoacan, was killed after repeatedly denouncing in recent months the extortion demands of organized crime on producers