Chaos At Mexican Airports, As Cartel Attacks After Death Of “El Mencho”

If you have plans to travel to Mexico’s Jalisco region in the near future, you may want to (or may be forced to) reconsider…

Guadalajara & Puerto Vallarta under attack by cartel

Reports suggest that a targeted military operation in Mexico has just taken out Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho,” who was the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). CJNG was formed in 2009, and has become one of the biggest and most violent drug cartels in Mexico.

In response to this, there are large scale coordinated attacks across the Jalisco region, with the goal of causing as much damage and chaos as possible.

It’s hard to fully know what’s going on given what a rapidly evolving situation this is, but based on reports, there was a possible active shooter situation at Guadalajara Airport (GDL).

Puerto Vallarta is also under attack by the cartel, with widespread reports of arson. The cartel has been trying to create “choke points,” to prevent police from entering, and trapping residents and tourists within specific zones. Obviously the goal is partly to intimidate law enforcement, so we’ll see how this plays out.

As you’d expect, this is having huge implications for airlines, and all flights to Puerto Vallarta Airport (PVR) have been canceled for the foreseeable future.

I hope everyone stays safe, this is awful

Mexico is a beautiful country with so much to offer — beautiful scenery, friendly people, and amazing food. By and large, Mexico is very safe, though there’s always the complicated relationship between the government and the cartels. The government has a duty to protect the population, while the cartels, well… we know what they’re doing.

So while there’s peace in Mexico a vast majority of the time, sometimes situations like this happen. The sad thing is that Mexico’s economy (especially in some regions) is heavily reliant on tourism. Puerto Vallarta is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country, so this will no doubt have an impact.

I definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable traveling there in the coming days (if it’s even possible — we’ll see for how long flights are suspended).

Given the geography here, I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable traveling to other parts of Mexico, at least for now. But keep in mind for the cartels, creating chaos and scaring people off is the goal, so we’ll have to see how this plays out. Most importantly, I hope that civilian casualties are limited here…

Bottom line

One of the biggest cartel bosses in Mexico has just been taken down in a military operation. This is having huge implications for the Jalisco region, given that this is where the cartel was based. Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta are reportedly under attack, including the airports. That’s not at all a good situation, so I hope everyone stays safe.

Both airports have been closed temporarily, so this is definitely a situation to monitor…