Flights between Portland, Oregon, and several Mexican cities ground to a halt on Sunday, February 22, 2026, as a wave of cartel violence swept across western Mexico in the wake of a major military operation. The Mexican army’s killing of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes—better known as "El Mencho," the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel—set off a chain reaction that reverberated far beyond the country’s borders, disrupting travel, prompting shelter-in-place orders, and raising fresh questions about the reach and resilience of Mexico’s most powerful criminal syndicate.
According to the Associated Press, Oseguera Cervantes was wounded during a targeted operation by Mexican troops in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about two hours southwest of Guadalajara. He died while being flown to Mexico City. The dramatic takedown of the cartel boss, who had been the subject of a U.S. State Department $15 million reward, was hailed by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as a major victory. Sheinbaum praised security forces and called for calm, but the aftermath was anything but peaceful.
Almost immediately, cartel members retaliated with a familiar but chilling playbook: roadblocks, burning vehicles, and chaos in the streets. According to KATU and KOIN, these tactics—designed to slow down or block military and law enforcement operations—spread across Jalisco and into other states. Videos circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke over Puerto Vallarta, panicked crowds at Guadalajara’s airport, and charred vehicles outside shopping malls. One anonymous American in Puerto Vallarta described the scene to KOIN as "mayhem," recounting how "people going up on motorcycles with a can of gasoline, stopping cars or tractor trailer, blocking major intersections and pouring the gasoline and lighting them on fire to create, you know, basically mayhem. And so the city’s pretty much all shut down."
The unrest quickly rippled through international travel corridors. At Portland International Airport (PDX), Alaska Airlines and Volaris canceled flights connecting to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. Alaska Airlines Flight 1445 from Puerto Vallarta to Portland, scheduled to arrive at 8:10 p.m., and Volaris Flight 1870 from Guadalajara to Portland, scheduled to arrive at 8:55 p.m., were both canceled, according to airline and airport officials. Volaris also canceled its scheduled departure from Portland to Guadalajara at 11:18 p.m. that evening. In total, Alaska Airlines confirmed to KATU and KOIN that it canceled 24 flights to Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, and Manzanillo due to the unrest, stating, "We’re working with our guests to reaccommodate them on new flights as quickly as possible, as we closely monitor the developing situation in Mexico."
Travelers caught in the disruption faced frustration and uncertainty. Portland resident Benjamin Ortiz told KOIN that after his Guadalajara flight was canceled, he spent the morning trying to reach Volaris customer service, only to find the lines jammed. "I tried basically all morning trying to contact Volaris, but I guess because all the flights were canceled, it was really not possible to contact them," Ortiz said. He and his family eventually rebooked tickets for Tuesday, but, as Ortiz put it, "We’re not 100% sure that you’re still going to be able to fly, but we decided to get that chance."
The chaos extended well beyond airports. In Puerto Vallarta, all international and most domestic flights were canceled on Sunday, according to airport officials. Roadblocks and burning vehicles made travel nearly impossible in both Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, and public transportation was suspended. Businesses shuttered their doors, and taxis and ride-share services were halted. The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana and the U.S. State Department issued urgent shelter-in-place warnings for American citizens, not only in Jalisco but also in Baja California, Quintana Roo, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas. The State Department advised, "U.S. citizens in those areas should avoid law enforcement activity, seek shelter, minimize movement, monitor local media and follow directions from local authorities."
For many, the violence was a grim reminder of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel’s power and ferocity. The group, known as CJNG, is one of Mexico’s most aggressive and technologically advanced cartels, pioneering the use of drones, explosives, and even land mines against military targets. The DEA considers CJNG as powerful as the infamous Sinaloa cartel, with a presence in all 50 U.S. states. The cartel is a major supplier of cocaine to the U.S. and earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamine, according to the Associated Press.
Oseguera Cervantes, originally from Aguililla, Michoacan, had a long and violent history in drug trafficking. After serving nearly three years in a U.S. prison for heroin distribution in the 1990s, he returned to Mexico and helped found the CJNG in 2007 with Erik Valencia Salazar. Initially operating as part of the Sinaloa cartel, CJNG eventually split off, sparking years of bloody conflict for control of lucrative trafficking routes. Since 2017, Oseguera Cervantes had been indicted multiple times in U.S. federal courts, most recently in April 2022 on charges of conspiracy and distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl, as well as firearms offenses and directing a continuing criminal enterprise.
The Trump administration’s February 2026 designation of CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization underscored the U.S. government’s concern about the cartel’s reach and tactics. The State Department’s travel advisory for Mexico had already been at Level 2—"exercise increased caution"—since August 2025, with Level 4 "do not travel" warnings for especially dangerous states including Colima, Guerrero, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas.
The aftermath of Oseguera Cervantes’ death was bloody and chaotic. According to a Jalisco state official quoted by the Associated Press, a member of the National Guard died during the Tapalpa operation, a jail guard was killed during a prison riot in Puerto Vallarta, and an agent from the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office lost their life in Guadalajara. Schools were closed across Jalisco for Monday, February 23, and the governor, Pablo Lemus, called on residents to stay home.
As Mexico reels from the shock, the question remains: will the death of "El Mencho" bring lasting change, or simply trigger further violence as rival factions compete to fill the power vacuum? Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has criticized the "kingpin" strategy for fueling such instability, now faces renewed pressure to restore order. Meanwhile, travelers and residents alike are left to navigate a landscape transformed overnight—one where the consequences of a single military strike can be felt thousands of miles away, in airports and homes far from the front lines of Mexico’s drug war.
For now, uncertainty hangs in the air. Airlines continue to monitor the situation, offering flexible policies and updates as events unfold. The U.S. and Canadian embassies urge their citizens to remain vigilant and shelter in place. And as the smoke clears over Jalisco’s highways, the world is left to reckon with the enduring grip of organized crime—and the steep price of confronting it head-on.