Mexico Cartel leader’s death sparks fires, airport chaos and postponed soccer matches

The government’s killing of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the New Generation mexico cartel, set off a wave of violence and disruption across western Mexico, leaving tourists and residents hiding, roads and airports snarled and several major soccer matches postponed.

Mexico Cartel violence shutters Puerto Vallarta

Smoke filled the sky and Puerto Vallarta erupted into chaos after the military action, with shops and cars set ablaze and burned-out shells of vehicles left on streets, videos showed. Tourists and residents cowered as remain-in-place orders kept streets largely deserted on Monday.

Jim Beck, an American tourist who sheltered in his Puerto Vallarta hotel, said he saw taxicabs blown up and blocking the streets and people running; he told a morning television show, “After this morning was the first time we actually felt fear. ” Marcus Brady, a Chicago resident in Puerto Vallarta, shared videos and said the violence came in two waves starting early Sunday, with the first involving a few cars set on fire on the main road and bridges in and out of the Zona Romántica and the second targeting areas inside the zone. Brady said buses and taxis had been positioned as barricades overnight and then set aflame to prolong the disruption.

A video from a local TV station showed several cars in the parking lot of a Costco set ablaze. Yoni Pizer said he, his husband and friends ran for their lives after gunmen followed them and shot at people; his SUV was torched but a passerby helped them escape. Video on social media also showed sirens blaring and passengers and workers running through Puerto Vallarta airport, with images of a long line of people hiding behind ticket counters; it was unclear why the sirens went off or why people were running. U. S. and Mexican embassy and consulate road closures affected some travelers’ ability to get to airports.

Conflicting accounts of El Mencho’s death and a $15 million reward

The man killed was identified as Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, nicknamed “El Mencho, ” the leader of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación. One account said the Mexican military killed him in a shoot-out 180 miles east of Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco. Another account said he was wounded in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, and that he died while being flown to Mexico City. Mexico had offered a $15 million reward for his capture.

Following his death, cartel members burned cars and blocked roads in nearly a dozen Mexican states. The CJNG is described in one account as the most powerful cartel in Mexico, with an estimated 19, 000 members and operations spanning 21 of the 32 states; it has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration.

Soccer matches postponed and national team schedule unchanged

Four high-level soccer matches were postponed Sunday after the army’s operation. Two top-tier games — Queretaro vs. Juarez FC in the men’s tournament and Chivas vs. America in the women’s league — were postponed, and two second-division matches were called off. Mexico’s national team still has a friendly against Iceland scheduled for Wednesday at the Corregidora stadium in Queretaro; the Mexican soccer federation had made no public moves to postpone it, and the team was training as planned on Monday ahead of the game.

Guadalajara is scheduled to host four World Cup games in June, including two involving South Korea, and teams such as co-host Mexico, Spain, Uruguay and Colombia are set to play there. The inter-confederation playoff for two remaining World Cup spots is set to be played in Guadalajara and Monterrey in March, and world soccer’s governing body requested a status report on security from the Mexican federation on Monday.

Travel disruptions, tournaments and what’s next

Road closures and arson disrupted travel and local life; schools in several states canceled classes, The said. Organizers of the Mexican Open, an ATP tennis tournament scheduled to begin Monday at the GNP Arena in Acapulco, Guerrero, issued a statement Sunday saying the tournament’s operation continues as normal.

Observers on the ground described dramatic changes in a matter of hours: drag performer Steven Polito said he noticed an “unusually quiet” gym at 8: 30 a. m. Sunday, and that the scene had changed markedly by about 10: 00 a. m.; the provided account is unclear beyond that point. For now, the next confirmed events on the calendar are the start of the Mexican Open on Monday and Mexico’s friendly against Iceland on Wednesday, while authorities and event organizers review security in the affected regions.