Ominous development in Mexico:

Mexican officials seize ‘narcotank’

Authorities in Jalisco, Mexico, recently seized this tricked-out 2011 Ford F-150 Super Duty truck, above, that had been transformed by drug gang members into an obviously DIY armored vehicle. The steel-plated “Z Monster,” as the truck was called, could fit 20 men and was outfitted with a rotating machine gun turret.

Drug gangs are crafting armored “narcotanks” in order to battle the Mexican military—and each other. Security forces complain they’re battling gangs that are better armed than they are. In Colombia, gangs have been caught using homemade submarines, and other cartels use ultra-light airplanes to transport drugs to the United States without grabbing the attention of the Border Patrol. The L.A. Times’ Daniel Hernandez reports that The Zetas and Gulf cartels wear military-style uniforms, making them “indistinguishable from actual soldiers” and confusing the locals.

Note the shield surrounding the machine gun mount. That’s a sign the drug gangs thought ahead. APC (this thing is an armored personnel carrier, not a tank) machine gunners are prime targets for snipers and smart fighting forces add shield to their machine gun mounts to keep their gunners alive.