A deadly bomb that exploded last week was originally meant for a police officials, authorities in Mexico announced.

The bomb exploded while still in the hands of Juan Manuel Meza Campos, who was attempting to place the bomb in a parking lot filled with police officers automobiles.

From the New York Times:

The blast unsettled the residents of the capital, which had so far escaped much of the drug violence that has racked other parts of the country.

The announcement on Monday that drug traffickers were behind the attack strengthened the impression that the struggle between the government and drug cartels had entered a new phase.

The bomber who died was identified as Juan Manuel Meza Campos, 44. Prosecutors say a woman injured in the blast, Tania Vázquez Muñoz, 22, was shown accompanying Mr. Meza, arm in arm, by a video surveillance camera just before the explosion. She is now considered a suspect, the authorities said.

The case has fascinated Mexicans, as each day more and more details emerge and the police piece together what happened.

“The investigation is very advanced,” Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said Monday. “We know the target was a high-ranking official of the Public Safety Ministry.

“If their aim is to intimidate us,” Mr. Ebrard added, “they are not going to succeed.”

Mexican Drug Cartels earn as much as $23 billion from their international operations in drug trafficking.