Name: El Mencho killed: US tourists take shelter as Mexico erupts in chaos
Uploaded: 2026-02-23T23:01:59.000Z
Duration: 9 min 5 s
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Violence has erupted across Mexico following the killing of the country's most wanted drug leader, known as El Mencho, in a military operation on Sunday.

You can see smoke billowing into the sky there in this resort town on Mexico's Pacific Coast.

A witness says fires are ongoing and smell like burning rubber.

Officials say suspected members of organized crime groups unleashed the wave of violence after the death of El Mencho.

He was a former police officer who was one of the world's most wanted traffickers.

He led the powerful Jalisco Generation cartel, or the CJNG.

CNN's Valeria Leon has more details for us.

Fire, smoke and chaos across several Mexican states.

Cities brought to a standstill as criminal groups retaliate after Mexico's most wanted drug leader died following a military operation Sunday.

Drivers forced out of their cars at gunpoint.

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, a former police officer known to most as El Mencho, was the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, wounded during a Mexican military operation and later died while being transported to Mexico City.

The U.S. played a role in Sunday's operation, according to U.S.

defense officials, though it's unclear to what extent.

As fear spread, many, many Mexicans spoke out, calling for an end to the violence.

People are aware of this violence and what they want is peace, to live in harmony and justice, not in war.

Blockades were reported across various states and classes were suspended in at least three states as officials tried to contain the violence and keep civilians off the streets.

I'm tired of seeing this continue every single day.

Under El Mencho's command, the cartel expanded rapidly, challenging rivals like the Sinaloa Cartel for control of territory and trafficking routes.

According to U.S. and Mexican officials, El Mencho managed to avoid capture for years.

His detention and debt is one of the most significant blows to organized crime in recent years and the first high profile operation under President Claudia Shaimao.

The fall of El Mincho may mark a major security milestone, but

with tourism, foreign investment and security for the 2026 World cup at stake, the world is watching how Mexico handles what comes next.

Well, the violence across Mexico has left some American tourists who have been asked to remain indoors stranded.

Terris Dejeuner from Los Angeles is stuck in Puerto Vallarta and joins us now.

Travis, thank you so much for being with us.

We are so sorry that you and of course the locals are going through all of this.

We what is it like where you are right now?

Can you Just describe the atmosphere and what you've been seeing so far.

At the very moment, it's about 11:10pm, it's eerily quiet outside.

And I say that listening from my windows, not from the streets, because we have been locked down for the duration of the day.

There was a bit of an information vacuum for the first few hours.

There was a lot of anecdotal and social media reporting, so to speak, filling in some of those gaps for people.

But we really were counting on each other to report to each other what you're seeing on the street.

We shared a lot of videos, a lot of photo, and it was pretty terrifying.

There were some sights that I personally saw just outside my Airbnb unit that I would have never imagined.

It really did look and feel like a war zone.

And I think that feeling of anxiety, that feeling of what does happen next or what could happen next is driving what a lot of people are feeling right now.

At the very moment, though, the streets, from what I can tell and from what I'm reading on social media, are quite quiet.

So I think we're all in a little bit of a holding pattern to see what does or what could happen next and to see a shelter in place.

Warning and what should be a vibrant touristy area.

What was your first reaction when things started happening so suddenly?

Unprecedented, I think, is the word that a lot of people would use.

I've been coming to Puerto Vallarta for years, and

it's a city in a country that I love immensely.

It's a beautiful city filled with warm, generous people.

And it's also a place where Canadian tourists, American tourists, and

tourists from around the world tour do see a safe haven, a bit of a paradise.

And especially when you see some of the visuals, some of the sites that actually do look like a war zone in a place that has been celebrated as such a paradise.

And again, the speed and the loudness with which it all happened was, was.

There you didn't really have time to think about, like, what's happening.

See what's on the ground, see what's out your window.

Well, these pictures we're seeing while you're speaking are very, very scary.

Are people actually following the shelter in place warnings, or have you seen Some movement and activity.

Regardless of that alert, there has been some movement.

I've been going out on the balcony of my unit just to see what's going on.

Mostly during the day and around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, you did start to see more and more people start to venture out.

And I myself, I actually got in the elevator of and there was another pair of tourists in the elevator.

And we all were kind of deciding like, or thinking about do we want to go out, do we want to try to see what's open?

Especially with lack of food and in some cases lack of drinkable water, People are really starting to wonder and ask, when will it be safe for me to go out and explore?

When will it be safe for me to maybe go to a store?

I think these are all questions we're dealing with.

Generally, though, I am seeing a great deal of respect for the lockdown, the shelter in place measure.

And I think that's evidenced by what we're reading on social media right now.

People saying the streets sound so quiet, the city sounds so quiet.

Can you just tell us more about the violence that people are seeing firsthand?

Tourists seeing these roadblocks and burned vehicles and a heavy military presence suddenly, it's mad.

I mean, I woke up to what I thought was a building demolition happening next door.

And when I looked outside, I hadn't yet seen there were some cars diagonally parked in some of the major intersections around my unit.

And within maybe 90 minutes to two hours, each of those was lit on fire.

And I actually did see, I saw and heard and smelled a group of criminals set a car on fire and run.

So the city does smell like burnt rubber at the moment.

I went up to the roof of my building and there was a thin layer of ash and some embers around.

And you just seen multiple plumes of smoke in the sky, in the horizon throughout the day.

And that was one of the other eerie parts.

Seeing that you could visually spot the spread in the number of violent cases going on at any one time.

And you definitely still feel and smell that hanging in the air.

The noise, the visuals, the light, the sound, all of it, especially the suddenness with which it came on this morning.

I think it really did alarm a lot of people.

And I guess a big question is, when are you expecting that this situation is going to change?

When are you hoping that the situation is going to change?