{"id":494789,"date":"2026-02-23T20:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T20:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/494789\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T20:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T20:29:11","slug":"26k-canadians-in-mexico-as-cartel-violence-hits-puerto-vallarta-minister-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/494789\/","title":{"rendered":"26K Canadians in Mexico as cartel violence hits Puerto Vallarta: minister – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\tAre you a Canadian in Puerto Vallarta right now? Reach out to us at shareyourstory@globalnews.ca with information on what you are experiencing and how we can get in touch with you.\"\"<\/p>\n

There are currently more than 26,000 Canadians registered in Mexico<\/a> as cartel violence hits the popular tourist area of Puerto Vallarta<\/a> \u2014 and no plans for military or consular flights to assist Canadians getting out, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said.<\/p>\n

Anand said the federal government is working on plans to \u201cassist,\u201d but did not share further details and said Mexican authorities have told her that they expect the situation to \u201cnormalize.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am in contact with my Mexican counterpart, who expects the situation to normalize in the coming days. Our ambassador and consular staff are working with their counterparts to ensure that Canadians remain safe,\u201d Anand told reporters in Ottawa Monday.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

As of 7 a.m. eastern on Monday, 26,305 Canadians in Mexico have registered with Global Affairs Canada, Anand said. This number is an increase of around 8,000 compared to 24 hours ago, signalling Canadians registering with GAC \u201cin the thousands\u201d as cartel violence escalates in Mexico\u2019s Jalisco state.<\/p>\n

Since registration is voluntary, Anand said the actual number of Canadians in Mexico is expected to be higher.<\/p>\n

Canadians are being urged to register with GAC, either by calling register 613-996-8885-SOS or at international.gc.ca.<\/p>\n

In the last 24 hours, Canada\u2019s Emergency Watch and Response Centre has received 440 calls from Canadians who are seeking information about flights and travel advisories, Anand said.<\/p>\n

Two of the calls for consular support \u201crelate to Canadians who have non-life-threatening injuries,\u201d Anand said, but added it wasn\u2019t clear whether these injuries were a result of cartel violence.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tCanadians told to \u2018shelter in place\u2019\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Canadians in Puerto Vallarta are being asked to \u201cshelter in place\u201d after violence erupted in the seaside Mexican town over the killing of cartel leader and drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, better known as \u201cEl Mencho,\u201d in a military raid on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cCriminal groups have set up roadblocks with burning vehicles in several cities in various parts of Mexico. There have been shootouts with security forces and explosions, including on roads and highways connecting affected areas to Mexico City,\u201d Global Affairs Canada said in a safety alert.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.<\/p>\n

GAC has warned of security incidents in several Mexican states, including Jalisco, where Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara are located.<\/p>\n

In addition to Jalisco, security alerts were issued for Guerrero, Michoac\u00e1n, Sinaloa, Quintana Roo, Baja California and Nayarit.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Canada
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cShelter in place\u201d orders are in effect in Jalisco and Nayarit. Similar instructions, including curfews, may be issued on short notice in other areas of the country, GAC warned.<\/p>\n

Air Canada said it had cancelled six flights connecting Puerto Vallarta to three Canadian destinations, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. This includes three flights to and three flights from Puerto Vallarta, affecting just under 500 passengers each way, the airline said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are monitoring the situation and are working to bring our customers back as soon as it is safe to do so. We will share more information as soon as possible,\u201d Air Canada said in a statement.<\/p>\n

WestJet said it has diverted seven flights en route to Puerto Vallarta and cancelled 24 additional flights to and from Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara and Manzanillo, while Porter said it has cancelled it cancelled two round-trip flights from Ottawa and Toronto.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Daniel Drolet, a Canadian who has wintered in Puerto Vallarta for years, said in a phone interview with Reuters that he was concerned about a new era of violence taking root in the typically placid resort zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never seen anything like this before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:35
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMexican drug lord \u2018El Mencho\u2019 killed in military operation\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Within hours of the killing of Oseguera, gunmen suspected to be his supporters blocked highways across several states and set cars and businesses ablaze.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tAs Carney heads to India, Canada seeks to revoke citizenship of 2008 Mumbai attack \u2018mastermind\u2019\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tFederal government raises concerns over OpenAI safety measures after B.C. tragedy\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

In some towns, tourists and residents were urged to stay indoors, while truckers were advised to take safe routes or return to their depots until the violence abated.<\/p>\n

The burst of violence across more than half a dozen states painted a familiar scene for Mexicans\u00a0who have spent\u00a0two decades\u00a0watching\u00a0successive governments\u00a0wage war\u00a0on drug cartels,\u00a0ravaging broad\u00a0swaths of the country.<\/p>\n

A member of Oseguera\u2019s Jalisco New Generation Cartel told Reuters that the blazes and sporadic gunfire were carried out in revenge for the government\u2019s killing of Oseguera, and warned of further bloodshed as groups move to take control of his cartel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe attacks were carried out in revenge for the leader\u2019s death, at first against the government and out of discontent,\u201d the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut later the internal killings are coming, by the groups moving in to take over.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the state of Jalisco, authorities reported that gunmen had attacked a base for the National Guard military police and recommended guests remain inside hotels and suspended public transit.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\u2018Cartel has now been beheaded\u2019\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The flare-up of violence was likely a \u201cmessage\u201d from the cartel to exert influence over their territory, said Alejandro Garcia Magos, political science professor at the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

While there might be some violence in the days to come, Magos said he expects the situation to improve soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be violence. There\u2019s going to be a reorganization of the cartel. But this is a major blow for this criminal organization. It will fracture. It will be demoralized. And eventually it will become less of a public threat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s push to take the notorious drug lord out has dealt a major blow to the cartel, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cartel now has been beheaded,\u201d Magos said.<\/p>\n

El Mencho was known for his long history of criminal activities and establishing the cartel, Magos said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was brutal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The operation is being seen as a major success for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has shown she is \u201cwilling to get her hands bloody,\u201d Magos said.<\/p>\n

\u2014 With files from Reuters<\/p>\n

Are you a Canadian in Puerto Vallarta right now? Reach out to us using the contact form below or at shareyourstory@globalnews.ca with your experience and how we can get in touch with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are you a Canadian in Puerto Vallarta right now? Reach out to us at shareyourstory@globalnews.ca with information on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,198533,43,1072,44,198532,41,39,42,40,3275],"class_list":{"0":"post-494789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-el-mencho","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-mexico","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-puerto-vallarta","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories","18":"tag-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}