A contact sent me these videos from Puerto Vallarta — a resort city on Mexico’s Pacific coast popular with American tourists — showing his neighborhood engulfed in flames. The unrest erupted after a cartel leader was killed near Mexico City, more than 500 miles away, on Feb. 22, 2026.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which controls vast territory across Mexico, launched attacks across eight states after security forces killed its boss, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho.” The U.S. State Department had previously offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Streets in Puerto Vallarta and cities across multiple states were targeted in arson attacks as operatives unleashed retaliatory violence against the government. My contact said police and firefighters didn’t show up to his neighborhood, leaving local residents forced to put out the fires themselves.
The violence is another stark reminder of how Mexico’s cartels operate as parallel power structures, wielding military-grade weapons and exerting control that often overwhelms the Mexican government. It is also a reminder of how vulnerable the U.S. is in sharing a large, unsecured land border with Mexico.
