Incident Summary:
09/15/2008: On Monday night just before midnight, three Gulf Cartel hit men from the Zetas threw two fragmentation grenades into a crowd of people celebrating Mexican Independence Day in the downtown square of Morelia, Michoacán state, Mexico. The blasts, which exploded almost at the same time within blocks of each other, killed eight people including civilians, police officers and rival cartel members, and injured at least 101. On 09/24/20008 on Wednesday, three suspected perpetrators, Juan Carlos Castro Galeana, Julio Cesar Mondragon Mendoza and Alfredo Rosas Elicea who are members of the Gulf Cartel’s Zetas, were arrested by police in Apatzingan. All three confessed to the grenade attack and claimed that it was carried out to provoke the government in the escalating war against drugs between the government and cartel members.
Overview
GTD ID:
200809150001
When:
2008-09-15
Country:
Mexico
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Michoacán
City:
Morelia
Location Details:
The bombing attack took place at the downtown square of Morelia, Michoacán state, Mexico.
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Police |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Morelia Law Enforcement |
| Specific Description |
Mexican police officers were also targeted. |
| Nationality of Target |
Mexico |
| Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
|
| Specific Description |
Rival cartel members were also targeted. |
| Nationality of Target |
Mexico |
| Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
|
| Specific Description |
A crowd of people celebrating Mexican Independence Day |
| Nationality of Target |
Mexico |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
No |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
Unknown |
| Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
| Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Explosives |
Grenade |
| Explosives |
Grenade |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| Two fragmentation grenades were used in the bombing attack. |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | No |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
Yes |
| Alternate Designation () |
Other Crime Type |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
| Group Name |
Group Sub-name |
Claimed Responsibility |
| Gulf Cartel |
XOC - Los Zetas |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Personal claim) |
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
3 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
3 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
8 Fatalities / 101 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
8 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
| Total Number of Injured |
101 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| International Herald Tribune, "Grenade Attacks Kill 8 on Mexico's National Day," International Herald Tribune, September 16, 2008. |
| Associated Press, "Mexico Arrests 3 Suspects in Grenade Attack," Associated Press, September 26, 2008. |
| Associated Press, "Mexican AG: Gulf Cartel Suspected in Grenade Blast," Associated Press, September 23, 2008. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties
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