Smoke filled the sky above the swanky beach town of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, as shops and cars were set ablaze by cartel members after the government killed a major drug kingpin Sunday, leaving tourists and residents cowering in fear.
The Mexican military killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known by his nickname “El Mencho,” the head of the New Generation drug cartel, Sunday in a shoot out 180 miles east of Puerto Vallarta, in the same state of Jalisco. Mexico had a $15 million reward for his capture.
Now, a day after the violence erupted, streets are deserted as locals and tourists heed remain-in-place orders. Schools in several states canceled classes, The Associated Press reported.
Burned out shells of vehicles remained on the streets, while damaged stores were heavily scorched from flames, videos showed.
“We saw the taxicabs all blown up and blocking the streets and people running down and towards us,” Jim Beck, an American tourist who sheltered in his Puerto Vallarta hotel, told the ‘Today’ show. “After this morning was the first time we actually felt fear.”
Marcus Brady, a Chicago resident currently in Puerto Vallarta, shared videos of the violence with NBC News. He said he thought the cartel’s intent was to send a message to the Mexican government and American and Canadian tourists that, “If we want to, we will take complete control of everything and everyone here, no one can stop us.”
He said the violence happened in two waves starting early Sunday morning. First, a few cars were set on fire on the main road and bridges in and out of the Zona Romántica area of Puerto Vallarta, he said, with much of that taking place in an area behind foothills.
“When those fires were going out everyone thought it was over. I know I did. So many of us thought it OK to venture out and I decided to walk down to the boardwalk, through the zone,” Brady said.
But the second wave was the worst, targeted inside the zone, he said. Brady said he mistook buses and taxis positioned at intersections as barricades to prevent violence, but they had been put there by the cartel during the night. “And when the second wave started, they coordinated setting them on fire, so it would last all day. The intention was to terrify,” he said.
A video from KXAS and KXTV in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, showed several cars in the parking lot of a Costco set ablaze.
Yoni Pizer told WMAQ in Chicago that he, his husband and friends had to run for their lives to escape what he said were members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Puerto Vallarta.
“The gunmen were following us and they were shooting,” Pizer said. “And they were attacking cars and pulling out drivers. At that point, we just ran as fast as we could.” His SUV was torched, but a passerby helped them finally get away.
Video on social media from Sunday showed sirens blaring and passengers and workers running through the airport in Puerto Vallarta. It was unclear why the sirens were sounding or why people were running. Images showed a long queue of people hiding behind ticket counters.
Road closures affected some travelers’ ability to get to airports, according to U.S. and Mexico embassy and consulate officials.
In a statement Sunday, operators of the Guadalajara International Airport said no incidents occurred inside the airport and operations in the airport continued. It said social media reports did not reflect what was happening at the airport.
The violence was not confined to Puerto Vallarta.
Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara, appeared deserted Sunday night as civilians hunkered down. Authorities later announced they had cleared most of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states.
Omar Casillas was running a half marathon, about to cross the finish line when things became chaotic. He began getting texts from his family telling him to “barricade the door, pack all your stuff, be ready to leave if you need to, if you have the chance to,” WMAQ reported.
Casillas’ flight out of Guadalajara’s airport was canceled.
A video posted online shows a customs booth in Reynosa, Mexico, about 5 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, filled with flames and smoke.
[/gpt3]
