{"id":177780,"date":"2026-02-24T09:41:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T09:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/177780\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T09:41:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T09:41:40","slug":"youre-in-survival-mode-houston-travelers-recount-chaos-amid-cartel-violence-in-mexico-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/177780\/","title":{"rendered":"‘You\u2019re in survival mode’ | Houston travelers recount chaos amid cartel violence in Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

Houston-area travelers returning through George Bush Intercontinental Airport described fear and uncertainty after a wave of\u00a0cartel violence broke out in parts of Mexico, prompting U.S. officials to urge Americans in certain regions to shelter in place.<\/a><\/p>\n

Passengers arriving at Bush Airport Monday night said simply making it onto a flight felt like a relief after chaos unfolded near popular tourist destinations, including Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara.<\/p>\n

For some travelers, walking through the airport doors in Houston marked the end of a frightening ordeal.<\/p>\n

Thomas Brooks said he had just arrived in Puerto Vallarta when the situation suddenly escalated.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we were about to get on the plane, they told us to run to the corner and hide,\u201d Brooks said.<\/p>\n

He said passengers were evacuated onto the airport tarmac as confusion spread through the airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a scary situation, but you\u2019re in survival mode,\u201d Brooks said. \u201cYou just try to find a way to get out of there and get safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

His wife, Sherry Brooks, said they prepared for the possibility of gunfire while waiting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him, \u2018Baby, whenever you hear \u2014 if we hear gunfire \u2014 just drop down. Don\u2019t think about it, just get down,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Other travelers passing through Houston were forced to change plans as flight disruptions stranded passengers away from their final destinations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s terrifying,\u201d said Jose Trejo, who was traveling from Puerto Vallarta and using Houston as a layover. \u201cWe\u2019re not even from Texas. We\u2019re from Chicago, but we had to come here because there\u2019s no flights to Chicago until Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trejo said boarding a plane brought an overwhelming sense of relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got on the plane today \u2014 oh man \u2014 I was stoked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Wendy Burdick, who spends several months each year in Puerto Vallarta, said the shutdown and violence were unlike anything she had previously experienced there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were sure we weren\u2019t going to be able to get out, even though we had a pre-arranged flight, because the airport was closed yesterday and this morning,\u201d Burdick said.<\/p>\n

She said she saw the impact of the violence firsthand while traveling to the airport, passing a burned bus and a damaged semi-trailer along the roadway.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yeah, incredibly relieved,\u201d she said of finally leaving. \u201cWe were flabbergasted we got out.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0Texas coordinating with feds as Americans told to shelter in place amid Mexico violence<\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0Who ‘El Mencho’ was and what to know about the cartel he led<\/a><\/p>\n

The unrest began after a Mexican military operation in the state of Jalisco that resulted in the death of \u201cEl Mencho,\u201d the leader of one of Mexico\u2019s most powerful drug cartels. Authorities said the cartel leader was killed during a shootout with soldiers.<\/p>\n

Following the operation, cartel members retaliated by burning vehicles and setting up roadblocks across several areas. While much of the violence had subsided by Monday night, gunfire was still being reported in some locations, including Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara.<\/p>\n

Travel disruptions<\/a> are expected to continue for several days as airlines work to stabilize schedules.<\/p>\n

Got a news tip or story idea? Email us at\u00a0newstips@khou.com<\/a>\u00a0or call 713-521-4310 and include your name and the best way to reach you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston-area travelers returning through George Bush Intercontinental Airport described fear and uncertainty after a wave of\u00a0cartel violence broke…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[71529,6832,56,58,57,71532,1468,71221,71531,71530],"class_list":["post-177780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-cartel-violence","tag-george-bush-intercontinental-airport","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-jose-trejo","tag-mexico","tag-puerto-vallarta","tag-sherry-brooks","tag-thomas-brooks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}