MORELIA, Mexico, April 24, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Groups of armed men torched vehicles and blocked roads across Mexico on Wednesday, police and local media said, as a turf war rages between the influential Jalisco New Generation drug cartel and local criminal groups.

Gunmen seized cargo trucks and set them on fire on a highway connecting Mexico City to Guadalajara, before police reported at least 18 similar cases in the neighbouring states of Michoacan and Guanajuato.

A Michoacan police source said on condition of anonymity that the attacks were a reaction by Jalisco New Generation to a military operation in the area.

The fires were under control by Wednesday evening, with roads cleared and no casualties reported, according to local media.

The Mexican government declared war on drug trafficking groups in 2006 and violence has rocked the country ever since, with around 480,000 people murdered in the past 19 years.

The Jalisco New Generation cartel was designated a terrorist organization by US President Donald Trump in February.

The group has been accused of using fake job adverts to lure new members and of torturing and killing recruits who resist.