Mexican cartel: citizen and tourism impacts

ALLI WICHERT
PHOTOGRAPHER

ANDREW SECORD
STAFF WRITER

03/16/2026

Mexican security forces killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” leader of the Mexican drug cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG, after its Spanish name Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion), on Sunday, Feb. 22. 

After a firefight early Sunday morning in Tapalpa, Jalisco, “Mexico’s defense ministry announced [in the afternoon] that El Mencho had died in a helicopter on the way to [the] hospital after being wounded,” according to The Guardian.

“El Mencho, 59, was believed to be a former police officer,” according to Al Jazeera. From Michoacan in western Mexico, he was convicted of heroin trafficking by United States authorities in the mid ‘90s, and served a prison sentence in the US before returning to Mexico. 

“Around 2009, he founded the JNGC, which expanded rapidly to become one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent cartels,” according to Al Jazeera. Tapalpa, Jalisco, is also close to the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta. 

“There was gunfire in the streets, and it was, well, scary,” said a tourist, according to NPR.

According to Mexico News Daily, hundreds of flights to and from Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco; Manzanillo, Colima; and Tepic, Nayarit were canceled by multiple airlines, coinciding with the spring breaks of many colleges. 

The U.S. Embassy issued a shelter-in-place for tourists in the affected areas; the warnings have since been lifted as of Feb. 25. 

“It was more than just drugs… [but] he… expanded to all criminal activities… Extortions… human trafficking… not only synthetic [drugs]… He stole fuel… and also… controlled a lot of mayors or small towns, and many congressmen,” said Dr. Victor Argueta, Associate Professor of Physics at Alma College.

“The CJNG maintains a presence in every state of Mexico, with varying levels of influence, and operates in more than 40 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, and throughout the US,” according to Al Jazeera.

In 20 out of Mexico’s 32 states, cartel attacks torched vehicles and blocked roadways. By Monday, Feb. 23, Mexican authorities reported “at least 30 suspected gang members, 25 National Guard troops, and one civilian” had been killed, and “more than 70 people across seven states” had been arrested, while “at least 85 cartel-related roadblocks” had been reported on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera. 

By Saturday, Feb. 28, 62 people had been killed, according to The Guardian.

“Something I haven’t seen in the news here in the U.S. is that… when they killed El Mencho… and they were… taking over airports and everything. It was all coordinated by one of the lieutenants. And then that person was killed. So along with El Mencho, they killed several of [his] lieutenants,” said Argueta.

Many American tourists were left stranded amidst the chaos. And with spring break season in full swing for schools throughout the US, travelers are left uneasy by the potential danger in Mexico. 

“Rooting out the cartels is enormously difficult, if not potentially impossible… One of the big challenges is that the cartels will always thrive as long as there’s a market to sell drugs to. And that market is the United States,” said Dr. Sandy Hulme, Arthur L Russell Professor of Political Science at Alma College.