Security Alert Issued After Violent Clashes Rock Mexican Resort Destination
What tourists expected to be a quiet Sunday on the Pacific Coast instead unfolded under a cloud of smoke and uncertainty.
What began as a federal security operation has spiraled into widespread violence across parts of Mexico, with tourists in a popular Pacific Coast destination told to remain inside their resorts as smoke billowed across the skyline.
According to Fox News, the violence followed a federal security operation in the state of Jalisco, prompting urgent warnings from local officials as the situation escalated.
“Tourists in the Mexican seaside city of Puerto Vallarta were told not to leave their resort on Sunday as a government official warned of ‘clashes’ in the area following a federal operation.”
Videos circulating online show thick black smoke rising above city streets, vehicles engulfed in flames, and roadways blocked as violence spread beyond the initial operation zone.
Jalisco, Mexico looks like a total war zone pic.twitter.com/qqg8wK3vIU
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 22, 2026
Members of the CJNG Cartel set buses and structures on fire in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. pic.twitter.com/knNIoIOTk7
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 22, 2026
Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro confirmed that federal forces carried out an operation in Tapalpa, which triggered retaliation.
“Also as a result of said operation, in various points of that region and in other parts of Jalisco, individuals have burned and blocked vehicles with the aim of hindering the actions of the authorities.”
He added that “the violent incidents have spread” and that blockades were shifting across multiple areas as authorities responded.
Panoramic view of Puerto Vallarta right now pic.twitter.com/cWssY9fwCU
— Mike Madrid (@madrid_mike) February 22, 2026
The situation escalated to the point that the U.S. government stepped in. The U.S. Department of State issued a security alert urging American citizens in affected regions to shelter in place due to “ongoing security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity.”
Mexico: Due to ongoing security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity, U.S. citizens in the following locations should shelter in place until further notice: Jalisco State (including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara), Tamaulipas State (including… pic.twitter.com/mYXVfMSvmT
— TravelGov (@TravelGov) February 22, 2026
The warning covers parts of Jalisco, including Puerto Vallarta, as well as regions in Tamaulipas, Michoacán, Guerrero, and Nuevo León.
While officials have not publicly detailed the specific target of the operation, local reporting indicates it may involve the Jalisco New Generation cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent criminal groups.
Airports shut down, military getting involved, power may soon be cut, our resort is surrounded by burning cars, the situation is intense! pic.twitter.com/7Jo3RGMZCF
— Dan Dicks (@DanDicksPFT) February 22, 2026
For now, authorities have activated what Governor Navarro described as a “Code Red,” urging residents to remain indoors as federal forces attempt to regain control.
For a city known internationally as a beach resort destination, the images are jarring. What tourists expected to be a quiet Sunday on the Pacific Coast instead unfolded under a cloud of smoke and uncertainty.
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Comments
So the President of Mexico is growing a spine.
Nah…she’s just loyal to a different cartels. The best kind of hit is a government sanctioned one…
I am a rather poor student of history, so can anyone point me to the golden era of Mexican history where some rebellion or gang wide-spread violence wasn’t common?
The Mayans were real chill
Cortez didn’t quiet things down much
The Mexican War of Independence In 1810
The War of Reform 1850
Emperor Maximilian was executed 1867
Pancho Villa 1916
Something, Something I can’t bother to research
And everyone is suddenly surprised?
interestingly enough the pride of the mexican warrior spirit/culture is never ever ever questioned in combat sports
but speak of it and the tds crowd will wrap you up like a burrito and eat you for lunch
unless of course we grow a spine and dont give a sh as a society about their hypocrisies
But don’t call Mexico a shithole.
No, it’s not. It’s a failed state. Is that better? 🙂
One day in the Whitehouse Rose Garden Pres GW Bush was having a joint press conference with then Mexican President Vicente Fox. POS Fox began to berate the US for mistreating people who illegally entered the US from Mexico.
If I had been President I would have told him that it is unfortunate that his country is such a shit hole people will risk their lives to live as “oppressed” illegal aliens rather than stay in the country they were born in.
Excellent!
You can bet PRESIDENT Trump would have. And not particularly diplomatically…LOL!
That happens to be circling the turlet.
It’s a civil war withe the cartels and they are now demanding the government surrender
The Cartels have been running most of Mexico for a while now. The government just looked the other way because the Cartels would just kill them, as the saying goes “Plata or Plomba, Silver or Lead”.
It didn’t help that the government kept the population defenseless with extreme gun control.
This is why I almost never travel to any place where I am not allowed to carry or at least have a gun in my hotel room. Most states I visit have constitutional carry for both open and concealed carry and I always check the laws before I travel and make notes for myself about how I am allowed to array myself in various locations.
You could bring your entire armory to this one and still be out matched on this scuffle. I’ll retract assertion that if you have a warthog.
This is a not my monkeys, not my circus event.
Is Tim Walz going there to demand the Federales withdraw because it is mostly peaceful?
Anytime you head to an all-inclusive resort, keep in mind there’s a reason they have walls and gates. A great many of them that I’ve seen were in areas not known for being safe for strangers.
Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti, and Costa Rica, just off the top of my head.
Puerto Penasco has been doing a big outreach campaign to tourists, especially RVers, pooh-poohing their concerns about drugs and violence.
“Yeah, come visit, it’s so safe here!”
Aw. All that effort up in smoke.
Well I guess its on now with the cartelistas. Hope we have plenty of DEA, Special Forces and others inside Mexic0 to help out before this spills over the border.
Those guys selling drugs on the beach are cartel slaves.
We used to go to both Cancun and PVR, but our last visit during covid left a bad taste. Leaving the resort is too damn sketchy. Not long after our last visit my S inlaw got roofied by resort staff AT THE RESORT. They are in their 50s– so this wasn’t spring break action.
From friends and relatives at the State Department, CBP-OFO, and the U.S. Border Patrol, things are on high alert at the Ports of Entry.
For the last couple of years, El Mencho’s thugs were saying he had died of kidney failure. I guess he died of lead poisoning instead. Ni modo.
I always find it interesting which stories the mainstream media chooses to prioritize. Given the 2000 mile border, the number of US Citizens in Mexico, the level of cartel influence/penetration into USA …this has potential to become a very bad situation but the mainstream media seem to be more worried about potential TSA delays due to shutdown.
According to my son, the Mexican Army swiss-cheesed a capo’s white Mercedes, with him in it. Shortly afterward, cartel thugs showed up at gas stations all over town, told everybody in them to run and don’t look back, taped down the pump nozzles, and tossed a flare over their shoulder on the way out. Very effective terrorism, to remind people who really runs Mexico.
Good observation about the impact and a glimpse at one of the easy, efficient and very disruptive asymmetric tactics that some folks on the right who seem far too eager for a red/blue ‘civil war’ often ignore. Same could be said of the folks who refuse to consider the possibility of one occurring b/c the right has the ‘guns’. It doesn’t take many people, very much equipment or years of training to create major chaos in a modern 1st world Western Nation.
Just a friendly reminder that even some of the nicest places in Mexico are simply infested with cartel scum.
It’s a shame because parts of the country could be amazing….and they have the gall to act as though they deserve to own Texas and California after losing it for their own dictatorial stupidity, cruelty, and ignorance.
I might point out that the cartels had four years of unlimited money pouring in from ‘nonprofits’ and the ‘fees’ they charged anybody traveling to the US. There’s still a flood of cash flowing south, but it’s real easy for a group of criminals to get comfy with an expansion of their empire, and not recognize the need to actually budget for a downturn. I mean look at the Democrats, for example…
so why isnt the government going to the homes of the cartels and attacking their innocent ( or maybe not so innocent) families??
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