DailyMail, by Natasha Anderson: An American couple on their first trip away from their four-year-old son have told their family members where their wills are hidden after becoming trapped in Mexico.
The unnamed individuals were on vacation in Puerto Vallarta when the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was killed by the Mexican military on Sunday, prompting widespread violence across the region.
‘I had to call my mom today and, you know, just tell her, “Look, here’s where my will is. We just created this. I don’t want you to panic, but I may need you to stay a couple [of] days extra with my son”,’ the concerned father told Fox Digital.
‘This is the first time we’ve ever been away from him. My wife was saying, “We’re never leaving him again”.’
Authorities in Jalisco, Michoacan and Guanajuato reported at least 14 people were killed Sunday, including seven National Guard troops, as videos circulating on social media showed tourists walking on beaches with smoke rising in the distance.
The US State Department has issued a shelter-in-place order due to ‘ongoing security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity’ that encompasses vacation hotspots like Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.
But tourists trapped at resorts in those cities have warned that the hotels are down to ‘the last bit of food,’ with one guest claiming they are ‘just sort of surviving off granola bars.’
Guests reported that hotel kitchens and nearby restaurants are shut down, according to CNN, leaving many worried about where they will get meals in the coming days.
Some vacationers who had early Sunday morning flights managed to get home, but others are now locked down at the airport after most domestic and international flights were canceled in both Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta.
Cartel boss Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, was killed during a shoot-out in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican military attempted to capture him.
Oseguera Cervantes was the leader of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, notorious for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the US and staging brazen attacks against government officials who challenged it.
Following his death, gunmen unleashed violence across the country. Cars burned out by cartel members blocked roads in 20 Mexican states and left smoke billowing into the air.
People locked themselves in their homes in Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and Jalisco’s capital, and school was canceled Monday in several states as security forces were placed on alert all over the country.
Guatemala also reinforced security on its border with Mexico.
American tourists have now found themselves trapped in the country, witnessing what they have described as ‘war breaking out in the streets.’
One vacationer, who was forced to evacuate from his rented Airbnb in Puerto Vallarta, told Fox Digital how he woke up to the sound of blaring car horns and saw six vehicles completely engulfed in flames.
‘They told the people to leave,’ he said of the suspected cartel members who were dousing the cars with fuel. ‘Then they were taking the gas and pouring the gas on the vehicle and waiting until everybody was clear before they were setting it on fire.’
American tourist Katy Holloman, from El Dorado Hills, took to Facebook to speak about her ordeal after she was told to shelter in her hotel as it was safer than attempting to reach the airport.
‘The road is closed due to the cartel. There are 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 video that appeared to show him running down a staircase as alarms rang in the background, while a Mexican woman ordered him outside.
He said in the 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****d 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.’
The US Embassy in Mexico has urged Americans to shelter in place, minimize unnecessary movements and avoid areas with law enforcement activity.
The embassy noted that while no airports are closed, a majority of flights have been cancelled and roadblocks are impacting airline operations. Airports are also operating with limited personnel because of the burst of violence.
All ride share services were suspended in Puerto Vallarta and operations have been temporarily curtailed on toll roads across the region due to blockades.
The killing of Oseguera Cervantes could give the Mexican government a boost in its dealings with the Trump administration, which has been threatening tariffs or unilateral military action if Mexico does not show results in the fight against the cartels.
But the long-term effect on Mexico’s security landscape remains unclear.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has urged calm and local authorities announced late Sunday they had cleared most of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states.
Many locals and tourists alike remain hunkered down and on edge as they wait to see the powerful cartel’s reaction to their leader’s death.
The White House has confirmed that the US provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico’s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said via X that ‘”El Mencho” was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland,’ and commended Mexico’s military for its work.
US Ambassador Ron Johnson recognized the success of the Mexican armed forces and their sacrifice in a statement late Sunday. He added that ‘under the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.’
Oseguera Cervantes, who was wounded in the operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement.
During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said.
The US State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of Oseguera Cervantes.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is one of the most powerful and fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico and began operating around 2009. In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.
Prophetic Link:
“The message we bear must be as direct as was the message of John. He rebuked kings for their iniquity. He rebuked the adultery of Herod. Notwithstanding his life was in peril, the truth did not languish upon his lips. And our work in this age must be as faithfully done. The inhabitants of the world at this time are represented by the dwellers upon the earth at the time of the Flood. The wickedness of the inhabitants of the old world is plainly stated: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). God became weary of these people whose only thoughts were of pleasure and indulgence. They sought not the counsel of the God who had created them, nor cared to do His will. The rebuke of God was upon them because they followed the imagination of their own hearts continually; and there was violence in the land. “And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” “And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:6, 12, 13)….” Selected Messages, Book 2, page 151.1
Comments