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Tourists in Mexico are facing an alarming situation, finding themselves stranded and anxiously hoping for a safe return home, after violent unrest broke out in the wake of a prominent drug lord’s death.
The chaos erupted following the reported killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, widely known as El Mencho, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, on Sunday. The news triggered a wave of violence across numerous Mexican cities.
Residents of Guadalajara, which is set to host four FIFA World Cup group matches this summer, took cover in their homes. Meanwhile, tourists in the area were cautioned to remain indoors, steer clear of crowded places, and limit their movements.
The unrest extended up the country’s west coast throughout Sunday, with incidents drawing alarmingly closer to Baja California. The situation escalated further as gunfire was reported at Guadalajara International Airport.
In the midst of the turmoil, American tourist Katy Holloman from El Dorado Hills shared her experience on Facebook. She recounted being advised to stay put in her hotel, as venturing out to the airport was deemed too dangerous.
‘The road is closed due to the cartel. There’s no flights going out of the airport to the States. We’ve rescheduled them for tomorrow afternoon, really hoping we make it home,’ she said in a video.
‘Just going to pray we make it home tomorrow. This is unprecedented here; the hotel staff have been saying this has never happened before.’
Another tourist, Dan Smith, from the Palm Springs area, shared a shocking clip of what appeared to be him running down a staircase as alarms rang out in the background while a Mexican woman ordered him outside.
A National Guard convoy in Mexico City, Mexico, on February 22, 2026, escorts a Rhino, an armored tactical vehicle used for high-impact operations and critical security situations, after federal forces kill Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes
A bus burns on one of the main avenues after it was set on fire by organised crime groups in response to an operation in Jalisco
Smoke billows around the tourist area of Puerto Vallarta amid a wave of violence, with torched vehicles and gunmen blocking highways in more than half a dozen states
American tourist, Katy Holloman, from El Dorado Hills, took to Facebook to speak of her ordeal after she was told to shelter in her hotel as it was safer than attempting a journey to the airport
Dan Smith, from the Palm Springs area, shared a shocking clip of what appeared to be him running down a staircase as alarms rang out in the background
He said in a video clip: ‘We’re evacuating the building, propane tanks have exploded. Hoping the building doesn’t catch on fire.’
His brother Richard uploaded more footage from Daniel showing a bus in flames and other blazing vehicles blocking the roads of Puerto Vallarta.
He said: ‘Please keep good thoughts for my brother Daniel. Puerto Vallarta is under siege. He is stuck downtown, and all roads in and out are closed off. He can’t get home.
‘Luckily, there are some friends downtown where he can hang out. Although it’s been evacuated once already. The drug cartel is p***** off.’
A San Diego tourist, James Stephens, posted chilling footage of a Costco store up in flames and revealed the whole city had been locked down.
He said: ‘Stuck in Puerto Vallarta as the cartel is attempting to take over the city. Entire city shut down. Can’t get out. Crazy right? We’re safe.’
Local media suggested Baja California, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Guerrero, Nayarit and Colima were also experiencing dangerous cartel-related activity.
The United States Embassy in Mexico urged Americans to ‘shelter in place’ while the UK Foreign Office shared similar sentiments to tourists stranded in the country.
On Monday morning, it warned: ‘Authorities in Puerto Vallarta have issued a public advisory to stay indoors. Routes to airports may be blocked. You should exercise extreme caution, follow local authorities’ advice, including orders to stay indoors and avoid non-essential travel in affected areas.’
The kingpin, 59, was eliminated in a joint Mexican military and US-backed operation in Tapalpa, a town of 20,000 people in the Sierra Madre mountains.
He was flanked by loyalists armed with heat-seeking grenade launchers capable of piercing tank armor.
Cervantes was the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels that plays a key role in trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl to the US.
Cervantes’s brutal control of the drug-trafficking routes from Latin America to the US, using speedboats and submersibles to ship cocaine and methamphetamine from Colombia and Ecuador via the Pacific, is thought to have made him billions.
He was linked to several beheadings, and last year an ‘extermination ranch’ was discovered in Jalisco that featured underground cremation ovens and 200 pairs of shoes.
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Smoke billows from burning vehicles amid a wave of violence, with torched vehicles and gunmen blocking highways in more than half a dozen states
A view of a burning truck, allegedly set on fire by organised crime groups in response to an operation to arrest El Mencho which led to his death
Nemesio ‘El Mencho’ Oseguera Cervantes was killed by Mexican federal forces on Sunday, according to high-ranking officials who spoke with local publications
Following the death of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, on Sunday, gunmen unleashed bloody chaos across several Mexican cities
Videos circulating on social media from Sunday show vehicles ablaze as residents of Puerto Vallarta have also reported armed thugs on motorcycles and the sounds of their gunfire.
Clips of Mexican forces exchanging fire with cartel members have also been shared on X and Instagram.
Footage emerging from Guadalajara International Airport in Jalisco has also been widely shared, showing smoke rising from runways and people running in a panic.
Other videos show people hiding inside the airport and lying on the ground.
Mexico is slated to host 13 games across three cities – Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey – including the curtain raiser in Mexico City on June 11.
Guadalajara is set to host four of the games, including a potential match in the city between Ireland and South Korea if they get through the qualifiers.
Residents in the neighboring state of Guanajuato have said they watched pharmacies and convenience stores get torched to the ground throughout the region.
Public transportation in Puerto Vallarta has been suspended, and hotels across the city are advising guests to remain indoors. Some businesses have temporarily closed.
Authorities have said they are actively working on containing the cartel’s reactions and reinforcing security following Cervantes’s killing – the highest-profile blow against cartels since the recapture of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán a decade ago.
Cervantes, who was also one of the United States’ most wanted fugitives, was killed during an attempt to capture him, as his followers attempted to fight off Mexican troops.
Mexico’s Defense Department said in a statement that the army launched an operation in the southern part of Jalisco state to capture Cervantes, involving the Mexican Air Force and special forces.
The cartel counterattacked, and in the ensuing confrontation, federal forces killed four members of the criminal group and wounded three others, including its leader, who died later during transfer by air to Mexico City, according to the statement.
Three soldiers were injured, and two people were detained in the action. Rocket launchers capable of shooting down aircraft and destroying armored vehicles were seized at the scene.
El Mencho, reputed leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, with his son Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez, known as El Menchito, in an evidence photo used by federal prosecutors
Fiery chaos has erupted throughout the Mexican state of Jalisco, leaving some tourists stranded. A bus set on fire by cartel members in the state is pictured
Chaos and destruction have exploded in the Mexican city
On Sunday morning, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro announced on X: ‘Federal forces carried out an operation in Tapalpa a few hours ago, which has led to confrontations in the area.
‘Also, as a result of this operation, in various points of that region and in other parts of Jalisco, individuals have burned and blocked vehicles to hinder the action of the authorities.
‘I have given the instruction to immediately set up the security committee with authorities from all three levels of government and to activate the red code in order to prevent acts against the population.
The killing could give the government a leg up in its dealings with the US Trump administration, which has been threatening tariffs or unilateral military action if Mexico does not show results in the fight against the cartels.
Cervantes was originally from the western state of Michoacan. His ties to organised crime went back at least three decades.
In 1994, he was tried for trafficking heroin in the US and sent to prison for three years. Upon returning to Mexico, he quickly rose through Mexico’s drug trafficking underworld.
Around 2009, he founded the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which became Mexico’s fastest-growing criminal organisation, moving cocaine, methamphetamines, fentanyl, and migrants to the United States, and innovating in violence with the use of drones and improvised explosive devices.
The Jalisco cartel had carried out daring attacks on the Mexican army, pioneering the use of drones and even going into battle with the state armed with helicopters.
In 2020, it assassinated the head of Mexico City’s police force using grenades and high-powered rifles.
It recruited aggressively, experimenting with new ways to reach potential members online, and generated revenue through fuel theft, extortion, and timeshare fraud, among other activities.
Oseguera Cervantes was facing multiple indictments in the United States, and the US State Department had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
The Trump administration designated his cartel and other foreign terrorist organisations a year ago.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who was US ambassador to Mexico during the first Trump administration, applauded the operation via X, writing ‘The good guys are stronger than the bad guys. Congratulations to the forces of law and order in the great Mexican nation.’
Smoke billows amid a wave of violence, with torched vehicles and gunmen blocking highways in more than half a dozen states
Videos taken by travelers at Guadalajara International Airport in Jalisco show smoke rising from the runways
The US State Department has warned Americans in Jalisco and other parts of Mexico to shelter in place. A burning truck in Jalisco that was extinguished is pictured
Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the DEA, said Mexico had sent a ‘strong message to Donald Trump’s administration that they are fighting aggressively and effectively’ against the most powerful cartels.
He added that ‘the majority of the information came from the Mexican armed forces and all credit goes to Mexico.’
It’s not clear who will succeed Oseguera Cervantes, or if any one person can.
The Jalisco cartel has a presence in at least 21 of Mexico’s 32 states and is active in almost all of the United States, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. But it is also a global organisation, and the loss of its leader could be felt well beyond Mexico.
‘El Mencho controlled everything; he was like a country’s dictator,’ Vigil said.
His absence could slow the cartel’s rapid growth and expansion and leave it initially weakened against the Sinaloa cartel on several fronts where they or their proxies are fighting.
The Sinaloa is locked in its own internal power struggle, however, between the sons of ‘El Chapo’ and the faction loyal to Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada, who is in US custody.
Vigil said Mexico should seize the moment to launch ‘an effective frontal assault based on intelligence.’
‘This is a big opportunity for Mexico and the United States if they work together,’ he said.
Security analyst David Saucedo said that if relatives of Oseguera Cervantes take control of the cartel, the violence seen Sunday could continue.
If others take power, they could be more willing to turn the page and continue operations.
The greatest fear would be that the cartel turns to indiscriminate violence.
They could decide to ‘launch narcoterrorism attacks… and generate a scenario similar to what Colombia lived in the 1990s,’ a full-on attack against the government, ‘car bombs, assassinations, and attacks on aircraft.’