Photo: Vagamood Sundaze / Unsplash
International flights to Puerto Vallarta have resumed after a two-day shutdown triggered by cartel violence across Jalisco state. The disruption followed a Mexican military operation on February 22 that killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Cartel members responded by torching buses and vehicles, setting up roadblocks, and firing weapons in cities across the state, including Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. The fallout grounded flights from carriers in the United States, Canada, and beyond, and left thousands of tourists stranded in resorts and hotels with limited access to food and transportation.
For the estimated 1.6 million American citizens living in Mexico and the large communities of Canadian, British, and Australian expats concentrated along the Pacific coast, the episode was a sharp reminder that security conditions can shift overnight. The U.S. State Department, Global Affairs Canada, and foreign ministries in the U.K., Australia, France, New Zealand, and Indonesia all issued shelter-in-place advisories during the crisis. While those emergency orders have since been lifted, Jalisco remains under a Level 3 “Reconsider Travel” advisory from Washington, and travel safety experts are urging all foreign nationals to exercise caution in the weeks ahead.
What happened on the ground
The military operation took place in the mountain town of Tapalpa, roughly 180 miles (290 km) east of Puerto Vallarta, in the early hours of February 22. El Mencho and six other CJNG members were killed during the raid; three died at the scene and four, including Oseguera Cervantes, died during air transfer to Mexico City.
Within hours, CJNG operatives launched coordinated retaliation across 22 Mexican states. In Puerto Vallarta, motorcycle riders threw incendiary devices into parked buses, taxis, and storefronts. Plumes of black smoke rose over the Marina Vallarta neighborhood. A restaurant on the ground floor of a building housing foreign residents was set ablaze. The Guadalajara metro system shut down, toll roads closed across multiple states, and more than 1,000 visitors were stranded overnight at the Guadalajara Zoo.
Authorities later confirmed that CJNG also ran an online propaganda campaign to amplify the chaos. Reuters reported that false claims circulated on social media, including fabricated reports that Guadalajara’s airport had been overrun and that downtown Puerto Vallarta was engulfed in flames. State officials said several widely shared images of airport attacks and burning buildings were AI-generated fakes. Twenty-five members of Mexico’s National Guard were killed in six separate attacks in Jalisco following the operation, and more than 70 people died in total across the country. No tourists were reported among the dead.
What it means for expats and visitors
By February 25, shelter-in-place orders had been rescinded, and the U.S. Embassy declared a transition to a recovery phase. Major carriers, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat, and Porter Airlines, had restored scheduled service to Puerto Vallarta, with most offering fee-free rebooking through early March. Air Canada deployed larger Boeing 787-9 Dreamlineraircraft from Toronto and Montreal to add 258 seats per flight and move stranded passengers’ home faster.
But the resumption of flights does not mean the situation is fully resolved. U.S. government staff in Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, and Ciudad Guzman remain under nighttime curfew and cannot travel outside their metro areas. Jalisco sits at Level 3 on the State Department’s advisory scale, one step below “Do Not Travel.”
Long-term expats in the area have largely taken the disruption in stride. Several American residents told NBC News that while the violence was alarming, it was directed at infrastructure rather than people, and that no foreign nationals were harmed. One year-round resident in a beachside development outside the city described the cartel’s actions as retaliatory posturing rather than a sustained threat to daily life.
That said, travel insurance providers and safety consultants are advising all foreign nationals to review their coverage, confirm that policies include medical evacuation and trip interruption benefits, and register with their home country’s consular notification system before traveling. With spring break approaching and roughly 1.5 million American visitors expected in Mexico during March, the consensus among experts is clear: go if you want, but keep your plans flexible, stay within well-secured areas, and monitor government advisories daily.
