00:00Violence has erupted across Mexico following the killing of the country's most wanted drug
00:04leader known as El Mencho in a military operation on Sunday. You can see smoke billowing into the
00:10sky there in this resort town on Mexico's Pacific coast. A witness says fires are ongoing and smell
00:17like burning rubber. Officials say suspected members of organized crime groups unleashed
00:22the wave of violence after the death of El Mencho. He was a former police officer who was one of
00:28the
00:28world's most wanted traffickers. He led the powerful Jalisco and new generation cartel or the CJNG.
00:35CNN's Valeria Leon has more details for us.
00:40Fire, smoke and chaos across several Mexican states. Cities brought to a standstill as criminal
00:47groups retaliate after Mexico's most wanted drug leader died following a military operation Sunday.
00:54Blocked highways. Drivers forced out of their cars at gunpoint. Trucks and buses sat on fire.
01:01Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, a former police officer known to most as El Mencho, was the leader of the
01:08Jalisco New Generation cartel. Wounded during a Mexican military operation and later died while
01:14being transported to Mexico City. The U.S. played a role in Sunday's operation according to U.S.
01:21defense officials, though it's unclear to what extent. As fear spread, many Mexicans spoke out calling for
01:28an end to the violence. People are aware of this violence and what they want is peace, to live in
01:35harmony and justice, not in war. Blockades were reported across various states and classes were
01:41suspended in at least three states as officials tried to contain the violence and keep civilians off
01:48the streets. I'm tired of seeing this continue every single day. Under El Mencho's command, the cartel
01:55expanded rapidly, challenging rivals like the Sinaloa cartel for control of territory and trafficking
02:01routes, according to U.S. and Mexican officials. El Mencho managed to avoid capture for years. His
02:08attention and debt is one of the most significant blows to organized crime in recent years and the first
02:15high-profile operation under President Claudia Sheinbaum. The fall of El Mencho may mark a major
02:22security milestone, but with tourism, foreign investment and security for the 2026 World Cup at
02:29stake, the world is watching how Mexico handles what comes next. Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.
02:38Well, the violence across Mexico has left some American tourists who have been asked to remain
02:42indoors stranded. Taris Dejeuner from Los Angeles is stuck in Puerto Vallarta and joins us now.
02:49Travis, thank you so much for being with us. We are so sorry that you and of course the locals
02:53are
02:53going through all of this. What is it like where you are right now? Can you just describe the atmosphere
02:57and what you've been seeing so far? Sure. Thank you, Ben. At the very moment, it's about 11, 10 p
03:04.m.,
03:04it's eerily quiet outside. And I say that listening from my windows, not from the streets, because we
03:11have been locked down for the duration of the day. It's been a day filled with anxiety. It started very
03:17fast and very loud. There was a bit of an information vacuum for the first few hours. There was a
03:23lot of
03:23anecdotal and social media reporting, so to speak, filling in some of those gaps for people. But we
03:28really were counting on each other to report to each other what you're seeing on the street.
03:32We shared a lot of videos, a lot of photo, and it was pretty terrifying. There were some sites that
03:36I
03:36personally saw just outside my Airbnb unit that I would have never imagined. It really did look and
03:43feel like a war zone. And I think that feeling of anxiety, that feeling of what does happen next or
03:48what
03:48could happen next is driving what a lot of people are feeling right now. At the very moment, though,
03:52the streets, from what I can tell and from what I'm reading on social media, are quite quiet.
03:57So I think we're all in a little bit of a holding pattern to see what does or what could
04:01happen next.
04:03And to see a shelter in place warning in what should be a vibrant touristy area,
04:08what was your first reaction when things started happening so suddenly?
04:13Unprecedented, I think, is the word that a lot of people would use. I've been coming to Puerto
04:17Vallarta for years, and it's a city in a country that I love immensely. It's a beautiful
04:22city filled with warm, generous people. And it's also a place where Canadian tourists,
04:27American tourists, and tourists from around the world do see a safe haven, a bit of a paradise.
04:32So it is jarring to have that contrast. And especially when you see some of the visuals,
04:36some of the sites that actually do look like a war zone in a place that has been celebrated as
04:42such
04:42a paradise. It has been, of course, very jarring. And again, the speed and the loudness with which it
04:47all happened, it was literally alarming. You didn't really have time to think about what's
04:54happening. You really just want to see what's on the ground, see what's out your window.
04:58Well, these pictures we're seeing while you're speaking are very, very scary. So I saw you're
05:02going through that. Are people actually following the shelter in place warnings,
05:06or have you seen some movement and activity regardless of that alert?
05:12There has been some movement. I've been going out on the balcony of my unit just to see what's going
05:17on, mostly during the day. And around four or five in the afternoon, you did start to see more and
05:23more people start to venture out. And I myself, I actually got in the elevator of my building,
05:26and there was another pair of tourists in the elevator. And we all were kind of deciding,
05:31like, or thinking about, do we want to go out? Do we want to try to see what's open? Especially
05:34with
05:35lack of food, and in some cases, lack of drinkable water. People are really starting to wonder and
05:41ask, when will it be safe for me to go out and explore? When will it be safe for me
05:46to maybe go
05:47to a store? Will the stores be open? Is it safe for employees to get here? I think those are
05:51all
05:51questions we're dealing with. Generally, though, I am seeing a great deal of respect for the lockdown
05:57and the shelter in place measure. And I think that's evidenced by what we're reading on social media
06:01right now. People saying the street sounds so quiet, the city sounds so quiet. These pictures
06:07are insane. My goodness. Can you just tell us more about the violence that people are seeing
06:11firsthand? Tourists seeing these roadblocks and burned vehicles and a heavy military presence
06:16suddenly. It's mad. Absolutely. I mean, I woke up to what I thought was a building demolition
06:23happening next door. And when I looked outside, I hadn't yet seen, there were some cars diagonally
06:30parked in some of the major intersections around my unit. And within maybe 90 minutes to two hours,
06:36each of those was lit on fire. And I actually did see and I saw and heard and smelled
06:44a group of criminals set a car on fire and run. So the city does smell like burnt rubber at
06:53the moment.
06:53I went up to the roof of my building and there was a thin layer of ash and some embers
06:59around. And you just seen multiple plumes of smoke in the sky in the horizon throughout the day.
07:05And that was one of the other eerie parts, seeing that there were, you could visually spot the spread
07:11and the number of violent cases going on at any one time. And you definitely still feel and smell
07:17that hanging in the air. So it is quite jarring. The noise, the visuals, the light, the sound,
07:24all of it, especially the suddenness with which it came on this morning. I think it really did alarm a
07:29lot of people.
07:31And I guess the big question is when are you expecting that this situation is going to change?
07:35When are you hoping that the situation is going to change? Because this is quite a wild
07:39current timeline that you're going through.
07:42Absolutely. I hope that it would change tomorrow. I hope that tomorrow we're able to
07:47feel all of us feel some degree of normalcy and safety in this beautiful, incredible city.
07:54That said, I also understand a lot of us are dealing with the in the moment reaction. When
07:59is my flight going to be delayed? When am I going to be able to find a meal? When am
08:03I going to be able
08:04to find a way back to my home? And if I can't find those answers, what are the other answers?
08:10What can
08:11I do in the meantime? So I think we're all trying to deal with this with a certain degree of
08:16patience
08:16in understanding things that are beyond the individual's control. But also we do, we're very
08:23hungry for information. We're very interested in any sort of official information that can help us
08:28make some of these decisions. And that also has been difficult because there is an immense amount
08:32of counter information that's in circulation. Is the airport closed or not? Is the airport under
08:37control or not? Each of these is a node and a network of decisions that we're all trying to make
08:42and all trying to have a certain amount of grace around while also maintaining safety in the moment.
08:48So there certainly is a lot going on. And I really hope that everybody in this city,
08:52everybody in this country is able to feel normalcy and is able to feel some degree of safety after this.
08:58Definitely hope that for the tourists and the locals as well. But for now,
09:01Travis Dejanais, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Stay safe.
09:18for now.
09:22Bye.
09:22Bye.
09:24Bye.
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