Mexico has replaced low-level cartel violence with full-on cartel warfare against police and the military. It’s very much like Apocolypse Now for tourists stranded in their hotels and condos. The open warfare came about after the Mexican military finally took out Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes. He was the head honcho of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the more violent drug cartels south of the Rio Grande.
Mexican troops shot him and a number of his bodyguards in a raid in Tapalpa, Jalisco. Of course, some US intel plus a $15 million bounty didn’t hurt, along with President Trump leaning on Mexico’s corrupt political leadership to get tougher on drug smugglers.
Cartel loyalists didn’t respond with a sternly written letter. They sent their message in the form of burning cars, torched businesses, and highway blockades across at least eight Mexican states (Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Colima, Nayarit, Guerrero, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas).
Puerto Vallarta—beloved by snowbirds, spring breakers and Canadians—turned into a ghost town overnight. Why? Because smart folks aren’t leaving their hotel rooms. Flights are canceled en masse with people running from the airports for their lives. The U.S. embassy warned Americans to shelter in place.
Yes, foolish tourists—bless their margarita-soaked hearts. They fell for the “it’s safe here” message of a failed narco state and serious warnings from the American government on the hazards of vacationing in Mexico. One day you’re eating ceviche and guzzling tequila, the next you’re dodging roadblocks manned by heavily armed guys who really don’t like losing their boss. And hoping you or your family don’t become an “accidental” backstop for cartel bullets.
Here’s a guy who’s on the ground there.
BREAKING: The Situation Is Bad In Mexico Right Now…Pray For Us! pic.twitter.com/nBMOpRXFU4
— Dan Dicks (@DanDicksPFT) February 22, 2026
NEW:
🇲🇽 Puerto Vallarta, is one of Mexico’s top tourist destinations, welcoming a record-breaking 6.3 million visitors last year.
Today, it’s a war zone following the take out of the Mexican CJNG cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes by the military, reportedly assisted by… pic.twitter.com/Ib7P6XzD8z
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) February 22, 2026
Here’s more from ZeroHedge:
Mexico’s Ministry of Defense announced on X that a military operation targeting the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in the Tapalpa area resulted in the death of cartel leader Nemesio “Mencho” Oseguera.
According to the statement, troops came under attack and returned fire “in defense of their integrity,” leaving four CJNG members dead at the incident area and three others critically wounded. The ministry stated that those three later died during a medevac transfer to Mexico City, including Mencho.
During this operation, military personnel were attacked, so in defense of their integrity they repelled the aggression, resulting in four members of the “CJNG” criminal group dead at the scene and three seriously injured, who lost their lives during their transfer via air to Mexico City; among the latter is Ruben “N” (a) Mencho, however, the corresponding authorities will handle the expert activities for their identification.
The ministry also reported that CJNG members had armored vehicles and rocket launchers.
In addition to the above, two other members of this criminal organization were detained and various weaponry and armored vehicles were seized, including rocket launchers capable of downing aircraft and destroying armored vehicles.
The statement noted that National Guard and Mexican Army units were being deployed into the Jalisco area, where CJNG operates, to “reinforce security” amid retaliatory unrest this afternoon.
“If you make drugs legal all the crime will go away.”
“And there will be no need for the black [and Mexican] drug dealers to carry guns.”
So said the smartest people in the room.
Buddy’s ex-wife wanted to take hid 9 year old twins down there on vacation using his child support to pay for it. He refused to sign off on that. Ex was super pissed but it was a great call on his part.
A good friend of ours told us yesterday that her (dirtbag) ex purposefully did something out of spite this past week to make her life inconvenient, and subsequently told her he was going to Puerto Vallarta with his new wife. Basically rubbing salt into an old wound for no reason kind of thing.
Well, he and his also-dirtbag-ish new wife (I’ve met them, egad they really are that self centered) are now stuck in Puerto Vallarta as I write this. While I don’t believe in Karma, they say it can be a beyotch…
Maybe Mexico will finally pull its narcostate head out its corrupt ass and take this problem seriously.
Doubtful but one can hope.
Hmmmmm…….NOW: Navy SEALS likely took out El Mencho. Also, the cartel’s “civil war” plans revealed.
“📌 El Mencho is dead — and now the real story begins.
Multiple sources inside Mexico are whispering the same thing: U.S. Navy SEALs may have played a major role in the operation, and the CJNG wasn’t caught off guard… they were waiting for this moment with a civil-war plan ready to launch the second their boss went down.
Here’s what i break down:
🔥 The SEAL-style precision strike that took out El Mencho
🔥 Why CJNG erupted instantly across multiple states
🔥 The alleged “civil war blueprint” prepared by cartel lieutenants
🔥 What this means for Jalisco, Puerto Vallarta, and major tourist zones
🔥 Why Mexico’s government is staying suspiciously quiet
🔥 How rival cartels (Sinaloa, Gulf, Nueva Plaza) will now rush to carve up territory
🔥 Why Americans should pay attention — especially near tourist corridors
This is the story the mainstream media will water down — but I’m breaking the whole thing open.
…”
ht* tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvwQ0HEPV8A
Stupid left winger anti-gun of the week: Guess What David Hogg Blamed for Mexican Cartel Gun Violence.
“Post
Conversation
David Hogg 🟧
@davidhogg111
You guys wanna take a wild guess at where 90% of the guns used by the cartel come from? It’s America. Our weak gun laws are literally arming the cartels that perpetuate so much of the violence driving mass migration.
…”
ht*tps://x.com/davidhogg111/status/2025789765895758312
This is true (even though its not 90%, its 78%, the cartel also gets firearms from other countries), but its not because of any ‘weak gun laws’. Its because of two things:
1. The Obama administration gave guns to the Mexican cartels in operation “Fast & Furious”, and only 12% of those were American made and actually came from America – the rest were from other countries that were thrown in to make the deal seem legit because no illegal arms dealer deals in just one country’s firearms and the cartels wanted multiple sources for the firearms. There is a straight line from “Fast & Furious” to the arms the cartels have today, it opened doors for the cartels to form relationships with others in other countries from which they get firearms.
2. The arms sold to the Mexican military by U.S. companies, were delivered then sold out the back door by Mexican military members to the cartel.
Together, these two things account for 99.9% of firearms the cartels in Mexico have.
No Hogg boy, there were no weak gun laws involved here – there were only left wingers and criminals that led to the firearms the cartels have.
Where stupid Hogg Boy gets his 90% figure – its because he can’t read.
ht* tps://x.com/FenixAmmunition/status/2025950419449471092
Clarification and correction for: “and only 12% of those were American made and actually came from America”
that 12% should have been 14%.
Frequently when we read of operation “Fast & Furious” we read about the guns that came from the U.S. but whats not talked about too much is that the vast majority of the guns moved in the over all “Fast & Furious” operation did not come from the United States actually. They came from other countries, into the U.S. specifically for this operation to make the deal seem legit to the cartel. Thousands of them, its approximated to be over 128,000 of them. Some of them were sold on by the cartel and ended up in other countries where they were used by terrorists to commit heinous horrible attacks. You can thank a left winger for this – Barrack Obama, he literally by his unlawful actions killed thousands making him the most prolific individual criminal mass-killer in U.S. history.
and to add: Those ‘AR-15’s’ the anti-gunners are so fond of saying the cartel has supposedly because of U.S. ‘weak gun laws’ and came from the U.S. – we know the cartel bought guns from members of the Mexican military that were purchased by the Mexican government from U.S. manufacturers for the Mexican military, but what about the rest?
The cartel dumped the U.S. for AR’s a long time ago because they can get them cheaper from China and they did that during and as a result of Obama’s unlawful operation “Fast & Furious” – there is a straight line that can be drawn from “Fast & Furious” to the arming of the cartel then and today. It was Obamas operation ‘fast & furious’ that gave the cartel that connection to China (and other countries) for firearms.
Sichuan Changqing Machine Works in China, a subsidiary of Norinco, started out making an unlicensed Chinese variant of the M16 rifle they called the ‘Type CQ’ but is officially known as the CQ 5.56. (The ‘CQ’ stands for ChangQing, the name of its manufacturer.
The CQ was introduced in the early 1980s, chambered in 5.56×45mm an intended for export sales. But they made two variants, the CQ 5.56 is also known as the CQ-311 or CQ M-311 which is the select-fire variant for Military/LE sales, and the CQ M311-1 which is the semiautomatic version for the civilian market. Later, they made carbine variants along the same type of development path that derived the M-4 variants here in the U.S. These look exactly like you expect an AR to look like, you see them in pictures but never realize it.
The AR’s you see the cartel members have in pictures today are the ones they got from the Mexican military, what remains of those because the Mexican military cut off that flow a few years ago, and now today the Chinese variant from China and not the United States is what they mainly have. It was simple economics for the cartel; For the illegal purchase of an American AR rifle and the trouble and risk associated with that because of U.S. firearm laws – to smuggle them across the border or outside the U.S. it cost more $$$ for one from the U.S. where they could buy two of the China versions via China illegal market connections for the price of one from the U.S. It was Obamas operation ‘fast & furious’ that gave the cartel that connection to China for firearms and now they get a lot of different type of firearms from China connections with most of them being unlicensed versions of American firearms.
This is why the serial number tracing fails for Mexico and its so low to identify American guns and why there really are not all that many American guns actually recovered from crime scenes in Mexico or from cartels that are traceable – its because even though the guns look like American made guns, they are not actually American made guns and did not come from the United States but rather unlicensed versions of American firearms made and coming from other countries mostly China.
After Cartel Response to Leader’s Killing, Mexico’s Gun Laws Look Even More Ridiculous.
ht* tps://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/02/23/after-cartel-response-to-leaders-killing-mexicos-gun-laws-look-even-more-ridiculous-n1231649