Canadians in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, are being ordered to shelter in place as violence escalates in the region.
Mexican government officials are warning residents that Jalisco State, including popular tourist destination Puerto Vallarta, is not safe for travel at the moment.
Global Affairs Canada issued a warning to people in the area that criminal groups have set up roadblocks with burning vehicles throughout the state. The agency says there are just under 19,000 Canadians in Mexico at the moment, including nearly 5,000 in Jalisco State. However, they note those numbers are estimates, as they come from a voluntary registry of Canadians abroad.
An official with the Canadian consulate department confirms the government is aware of and monitoring the developing situation.
Melanie Osmack was with her children at a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta’s Romantic Zone Sunday morning, watching the Olympic men’s gold-medal hockey game when she first saw the smoke.
“It was very visible, very black sky and you could smell it,” Osmack said. Videos circulating on social media appear to show plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky at several different sites, stemming from the burning vehicles.
That’s when people at the restaurant started getting messages and alerts to return to their hotels or residences, and shelter inside.
“Some people couldn’t even get back to where they were staying because the roads were closed,” Osmack said. Global Affairs Canada says all taxi and ride-share services in the area are currently suspended.
Osmack has a condo on the beach where she and her family have been safely sheltered. She says they’ve been visiting the area from Vancouver yearly for close to 30 years, and never experienced anything like this.
“It’s very unsettling.”
Karen Mackenzie calls the empty streets “eerie.”
“We’re so used to cars and buses going by,” Mackenzie said of her condo in the marina neighbourhood of Puerto Vallarta. “Now, it’s so quiet. I can look out onto the marina and usually there are so many people, and now there’s no one.”
Mackenzie says this morning there appeared to be a bus burning on the street in front of her condo building, and earlier in the day a military van with armed personnel came through the streets. Since then, Mackenzie says things in the vicinity have appeared to calm down slightly.
The federal government says there have also been shootouts and explosions, though it’s not yet clear if there are any injuries. Global Affairs Canada is advising Canadians in the area to keep a low profile and shelter in place, and monitor local and international media to stay informed.
Flights in and out of Puerto Vallarta cancelled, diverted
The Puerto Vallarta airport has shut down.
WestJet, Air Canada, Flair, Air Transat and Porter Airlines have all cancelled or diverted flights to the area.
In a statement, WestJet said they have diverted seven flights en route to Puerto Vallarta and cancelled 24 flights to and from the city, as well nearby Guadalajara and Manzanillo.
“As conditions evolve, additional cancellations may be required to ensure the safety of everyone,” the statement read.
Air Transat said in a statement that its Sunday flights had been rescheduled to Monday, adding it is closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates.
Osmack says her two children were scheduled to fly back to Vancouver Sunday, but they have already been rebooked for flights later this week.
Leader of cartel killed in military operation
In a post on social media, Pablo Lemus Navarro, the governor of Jalisco, said that federal forces conducted a raid in Tapalpa, a town about 400 kilometres inland of Puerto Vallarta, Sunday morning.
That raid, Navarro wrote, led to “confrontations” across the state.
This comes after the Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” in an operation on Sunday, a federal official told The Associated Press.
The official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said it happened during a military operation in the western state of Jalisco.
It followed several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations.
Videos circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke billowing over the city of Puerto Vallarta, a major city in Jalisco, and sprinting through the airport of the state’s capital in panic.
The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is one of the most powerful and fastest-growing criminal organizations in Mexico.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.
It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military—including helicopters—and a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital’s police force and now head of federal security.
The DEA considers this cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s most infamous criminal groups, with a presence in all 50 US states, where it distributes tons of drugs. It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the US market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2026.
With files from Fabiola Sánchez, The Associated Press
Canadians in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, are being ordered to shelter in place as violence escalates in the region. Mexican government officials are warning residents that Jalisco State, including popular tourist destination Puerto Vallarta, is not safe for travel at the moment. Global Affairs Canada issued a warning to people in the area that criminal groups Canada, World
Canadians in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, are being ordered to shelter in place as violence escalates in the region.
Mexican government officials are warning residents that Jalisco State, including popular tourist destination Puerto Vallarta, is not safe for travel at the moment.
Global Affairs Canada issued a warning to people in the area that criminal groups have set up roadblocks with burning vehicles throughout the state. The agency says there are just under 19,000 Canadians in Mexico at the moment, including nearly 5,000 in Jalisco State. However, they note those numbers are estimates, as they come from a voluntary registry of Canadians abroad.
An official with the Canadian consulate department confirms the government is aware of and monitoring the developing situation.
Melanie Osmack was with her children at a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta’s Romantic Zone Sunday morning, watching the Olympic men’s gold-medal hockey game when she first saw the smoke.
“It was very visible, very black sky and you could smell it,” Osmack said. Videos circulating on social media appear to show plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky at several different sites, stemming from the burning vehicles.
That’s when people at the restaurant started getting messages and alerts to return to their hotels or residences, and shelter inside.
“Some people couldn’t even get back to where they were staying because the roads were closed,” Osmack said. Global Affairs Canada says all taxi and ride-share services in the area are currently suspended.
Osmack has a condo on the beach where she and her family have been safely sheltered. She says they’ve been visiting the area from Vancouver yearly for close to 30 years, and never experienced anything like this.
“It’s very unsettling.”
Karen Mackenzie calls the empty streets “eerie.”
“We’re so used to cars and buses going by,” Mackenzie said of her condo in the marina neighbourhood of Puerto Vallarta. “Now, it’s so quiet. I can look out onto the marina and usually there are so many people, and now there’s no one.”
Mackenzie says this morning there appeared to be a bus burning on the street in front of her condo building, and earlier in the day a military van with armed personnel came through the streets. Since then, Mackenzie says things in the vicinity have appeared to calm down slightly.
The federal government says there have also been shootouts and explosions, though it’s not yet clear if there are any injuries. Global Affairs Canada is advising Canadians in the area to keep a low profile and shelter in place, and monitor local and international media to stay informed.
Flights in and out of Puerto Vallarta cancelled, diverted
The Puerto Vallarta airport has shut down.
WestJet, Air Canada, Flair, Air Transat and Porter Airlines have all cancelled or diverted flights to the area.
In a statement, WestJet said they have diverted seven flights en route to Puerto Vallarta and cancelled 24 flights to and from the city, as well nearby Guadalajara and Manzanillo.
“As conditions evolve, additional cancellations may be required to ensure the safety of everyone,” the statement read.
Air Transat said in a statement that its Sunday flights had been rescheduled to Monday, adding it is closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates.
Osmack says her two children were scheduled to fly back to Vancouver Sunday, but they have already been rebooked for flights later this week.
Leader of cartel killed in military operation
In a post on social media, Pablo Lemus Navarro, the governor of Jalisco, said that federal forces conducted a raid in Tapalpa, a town about 400 kilometres inland of Puerto Vallarta, Sunday morning.
That raid, Navarro wrote, led to “confrontations” across the state.
This comes after the Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” in an operation on Sunday, a federal official told The Associated Press.
The official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said it happened during a military operation in the western state of Jalisco.
It followed several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations.
Videos circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke billowing over the city of Puerto Vallarta, a major city in Jalisco, and sprinting through the airport of the state’s capital in panic.
The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is one of the most powerful and fastest-growing criminal organizations in Mexico.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.
It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military—including helicopters—and a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital’s police force and now head of federal security.
The DEA considers this cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s most infamous criminal groups, with a presence in all 50 US states, where it distributes tons of drugs. It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the US market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2026.
With files from Fabiola Sánchez, The Associated Press