MEXICO CITY: Firsthand accounts are emerging from Americans trapped by this week’s cartel-related violence in Mexico following the death of cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as «El Mencho.»

As news spread of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) cartel boss’s murder, reports described armed clashes between rival criminal organizations and Mexican security forces, as well as coordinated vehicle burnings and temporary highway blockades. Mexican authorities say that such operations are often linked to internal cartel disputes or targeted law enforcement actions.

With the situation improving, Americans in the tourist area of Puerto Vallarta and beyond shared their experiences of the violent scenes they were caught up in.

«My group was seven people, and we were on our way to the main port in Puerto Vallarta with a local shuttle driver when we saw a bus stopped horizontally across the road in front of us. At first, we thought it was an accident, but then we saw people running full speed away from the bus,» Colorado resident Scott Posilkin told Fox News Digital.

«As we were trying to register what was happening, we saw a man with a gun come around the far side of the bus. He waved it at us and gave us a hand signal to turn around, which we immediately did. We tried to head in the opposite direction, but we encountered another burning car, which left us essentially trapped between the two.»

He continued, «We went down to the only beach we could access. One of the locals advised us that the safest place for us would be out on the water. We took a tender boat out to the snorkeling boat we were supposed to be on and stayed there for a few hours. From the water, we could see what looked like much of the town burning.»

Posilkin said, «Getting a boat back to shore took a long time, and at one point we even considered swimming because there was no one on the beach to come get us. The captain said he had never seen the beach empty like that in his life, and he grew up there. We eventually flagged down a passing tender that brought us to shore. There were cartel members on a motorcycle who yelled «Viva Mexico» at us, but we did not feel that they were threatening us in any way. Both our shuttle driver and the locals assured us that the cartel was not interested in harming Americans and that it was still safest for us to get home that way.»

A burned-out bus in the Puerto Vallarta area of Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Scott Posilkin)

Posilkin gave credit to the locals for their help and support. «I want to emphasize how above and beyond the locals went to help us during an incredibly stressful situation. Everyone we interacted with — from our boat captain to our shuttle driver — had grown up here, and none of them had ever seen anything like this before… More than anything, I feel bad for the locals. Tourism is their livelihood, and I worry about the impact this will have on them. This experience hasn’t changed my love for travel or for Mexico, though it was a serious ordeal.»

TROOPS REINFORCE PUERTO VALLARTA AS UNREST SHOWS SIGNS OF EASING FOLLOWING EL MENCHO’S DEATH

Tourists walk past a burned shop in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco state, Mexico, on Feb. 24, 2026, after cartel-linked violence erupted following the death of Jalisco New Generation cartel leader Nemesio «El Mencho» Oseguera Cervantes. (Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images)

Rodolfo Flores, an American citizen and executive in the energy sector talked to Fox News Digital: «Although it wasn’t one of the worst-affected areas, on Sunday I saw a convenience store in Querétaro that had been burned down with a Molotov bomb.»

He said, «On the way to Mexico City, we saw cars and trucks that had been set on fire. This is just one example of how vulnerable we are, and it’s astonishing how these criminal organizations can terrorize the population. The authorities are to blame for allowing them to grow and expand with highly effective criminal cells.»

Security analysts note that cartel violence often intensifies following high-profile arrests, internal leadership disputes, or shifts in territorial control. Public displays of force — such as coordinated blockades or attacks on infrastructure — can serve as demonstrations of operational capacity.

Smoke rises after violence hit Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Scott Posilkin)

Another American, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Fox News Digital, «I left Coalcoman Michoacan on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. when the chaos began. As I left town, I saw them burning cars and trucks, pulling people out of their vehicles, and setting them on fire. Luckily, I managed to escape and cross the mountains; it’s a mountainous region. All along the way, I kept seeing burning cars and armed people. I was fortunate that they didn’t stop me,» he said.

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«I made it all the way to Colima and then to Guadalajara. Later, things got worse in my town. I heard they started burning gas stations and set fire to a supermarket. They closed off the town so people couldn’t get in or out.»

On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. embassy in Mexico posted an update stating that «U.S. citizens are no longer urged to shelter in place.» 

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Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, tuvo en su vida una pata financiera en Uruguay que le permitió lavar dinero. Este país fue en el que fue detenido Gerardo González Valencia, el cuñado del capo narco que fue matado este domingo por el ejército mexicano. Además, también fue el lugar en el que uno de sus testaferros fue detenido.

Tras la muerte del cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, el diario El País de Uruguay publicó un informe en el que recuerdan el vínculo que tuvo el narcotraficante con este territorio. Esa cercanía estaba dada por la hermana de Gerardo González Valencia, Rosalinda, que era la esposa de El Mencho.

González Valencia fue uno de los líderes de Los Cuinis, la célula criminal integrada por un grupo de hermanos que coordinaba labores y que los llevaron a convertirse en el brazo financiero del Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación. Se trata de un delincuente que, entre viajes a safaris, mundiales y Europa, logró evadir a la Justicia hasta que el gobierno de Estados Unidos presentó una acusación formal sobre él y fue detenido en Uruguay en 2016.

Allí estuvo cuatro años preso, hasta que en mayo de 2020 Lalo, como le decían, fue extraditado a Estados Unidos, país en el que se enfrentaba a varios cargos relacionados al narcotráfico y al lavado de dinero. En 2023, González Valencia obtuvo la pena máxima por los cargos por los que estaba requerido y fue condenado a participar el resto de sus días en la cárcel.

Según el diario uruguayo, los vínculos del capo narco abatido con Uruguay que fueron detectados por las autoridades se centran en González Valencia. Aunque también hay otra relación: el 30 de mayo de 2023, la Policía detuvo en Punta del Este a Óscar Gilberto Calvete. Sobre él pesaba una alerta roja de captura internacional de Argentina, donde está acusado de lavar dinero para Los Cuinis.

Calvete junto a otros cinco hombres intervinieron al poner en circulación en el sistema financiero argentino bienes que provenían de actividades relacionadas con delitos del Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación. Lo hacían a través de la sociedad anónima Círculo Internacional. Las autoridades lo tenían en la mira desde 2009.

González Valencia, en tanto, había vivido dos años en Argentina antes de llegar al país, por razones que los investigadores argentinos desconocen.

En Uruguay, González Valencia vivió en Punta del Este y anotó a sus hijos en un colegio de esa ciudad. El libro Los protectores del capital del sociólogo Gabriel Tenembaum señala que él se presentaba como cazador y que en el país lavaron cerca de USD 10 millones procedentes del tráfico de drogas. En 2016, en tanto, fue detenido en la puerta del colegio de sus hijos, en el barrio residencial Carrasco de Montevideo.

Su estadía en la cárcel, recuerda El País, le dio muchos dolores de cabeza a las autoridades y en más de una oportunidad hubo sospechas de que estaba tramando un plan para escapar. Denunció que hubo torturas sobre él.

Durante su reclusión en Uruguay, González Valencia estuvo en el centro de la política al confirmarse que mantuvo encuentros con Rocco Morabito, el jefe de la mafia italiana que estuvo preso en la Cárcel Central y que logró escapar de allí. En ese período, también se registró una amenaza dirigida al entonces ministro del Interior, Eduardo Bonomi. González Valencia dijo que “lo colgaría del puente más alto de Uruguay”, según surge de documentos judiciales consignados por el noticiero Telenoche de Canal 4.

También fue noticia a finales de año, cuando el diario El País informó que sus abogados apelaron a su estadía en el país y a la discusión que se dio en los tribunales uruguayos previo a que se concrete la extradición para evitar la cadena perpetua. En concreto, el narcotraficante intentó ampararse en fallos de la Justicia uruguaya para evitar que un Tribunal de Apelaciones de Estados Unidos confirmara su cadena perpetua. Jueces y fiscales uruguayos habían argumentado que la aplicación de la cadena perpetua “vulneraría el orden público” de Uruguay.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has handed his teenage daughter a leadership role in the regime’s powerful «Missile Administration,» the body that oversees Pyongyang’s nuclear forces, South Korean media reported Monday.

The girl, Ju Ae, who is believed to be 13 or 14 years old, was assessed by South Korean intelligence received on Sunday to be acting as a «missile general director» while authorities monitor developments at the ongoing Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, the reports said.

The Chosun Daily, citing high-level government sources familiar with the matter, said intelligence agencies obtained reports that Kim’s daughter has been elevated to the position.

While Jang Chang-ha is officially listed as director of the administration, intelligence suggested Kim’s daughter is receiving briefings from generals and issuing directives.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service recently told lawmakers that her public profile signals she is also in the «stage of being designated as a successor,» adding that circumstances have been seen where she provides opinions on policy, The Associated Press reported.

The teen has appeared alongside her father at high-profile military events, including intercontinental ballistic missile launches and weapons inspections.

North Korean state media first confirmed her existence in November 2022, and described her only as a «beloved child» when she accompanied Kim at the launch of the Hwasong-17 ICBM. 

Her name has never been officially disclosed by Pyongyang.

NORTH KOREA TEST-LAUNCHES HYPERSONIC MISSILE SYSTEM IN FRONT OF KIM, NATION SAYS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter, Ju Ae, celebrate the New Year, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (KCNA via Reuters)

Her reported role comes as Kim continues to showcase advances in the country’s weapons programs.

On Feb. 18, Kim was photographed taking the wheel of a nuclear-capable 600mm multiple rocket launcher in Pyongyang, touting it as among the most powerful of its kind.

State media showed rows of launch vehicles and said the rockets, which Kim claimed rival short-range ballistic missiles and use artificial intelligence in their guidance systems, have «completely changed» modern artillery warfare, Reuters reported.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Kim was re-elected general secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea on Feb.22, a decision announced by state-run media following the party’s Ninth Congress.

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North Korea has suspended all meaningful diplomacy with the United States and South Korea since the collapse of a 2019 summit between Kim and President Donald Trump.

This came over disagreements about sanctions relief in exchange for steps to wind down Kim’s nuclear and missile program.

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