Trump spent a year telling Mexico to destroy the cartels or face consequences.
Mexico just did something nobody expected – they killed El Mencho, the most wanted drug lord on the planet, using American intelligence.
Now dozens of Americans are locked inside Puerto Vallarta hotels watching burning fuel tankers outside their windows, and one man already called his mother to tell her where his will is.
El Mencho Killed: CJNG Cartel Retaliation Turns Puerto Vallarta Into a War Zone
Eugene Marchenko of Charleston, South Carolina had been in Mexico for exactly one day when he woke up to blaring horns and looked off his balcony to see six cars fully engulfed in flames.
He watched a neighbor's video showing men he believed to be cartel members forcing drivers out of their vehicles, pouring gasoline, and waiting until everyone was clear before lighting them up.
A burning fuel tanker sat near a gas station just outside his building.
Ubers and taxis had vanished completely.
Marchenko couldn't figure out how he'd reach the airport even if flights resumed.
Adriana Belli, a Miami visitor who planned to spend over a week in Mexico for a wedding and a birthday celebration, said guests with early morning flights had made it to the airport – and were now trapped inside it, surviving on granola bars.
Another American at a separate resort told Fox News Digital that room service and restaurants had been shut down entirely, with staff bringing guests to the lobby for what they called "the last bit of food."
That same man told Fox News Digital it was the first trip he and his wife had taken without their 4-year-old son.
He called his mother and told her where to find their will.
https://twitter.com/AnthonyOfuani3/status/2026070359577932138
How Trump's Cartel Crackdown Took Down the Most Wanted Drug Lord in Mexico
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes – El Mencho – wasn't just any drug lord.
The DEA ranked CJNG alongside the Sinaloa Cartel as one of the two most powerful trafficking organizations on earth, with operatives running product in every single U.S. state.
El Mencho carried a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head.
On Sunday, Mexican forces moved on the mountain town of Tapalpa in Jalisco – and El Mencho was wounded in the firefight.
He died before the aircraft transporting him reached Mexico City.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on X that U.S. intelligence directly supported the Tapalpa operation that eliminated Oseguera Cervantes – a joint effort the Mexican Defense Department described as bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Cartel gunmen responded by torching vehicles and blocking highways across nearly 20 Mexican states, temporarily turning Guadalajara – a 2026 World Cup host city – into a ghost town.
CJNG Foreign Terrorist Designation and the $15 Million Bounty That Finally Worked
Trump designated CJNG a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February 2025 – treating the cartel as what it actually is rather than a diplomatic inconvenience.
That designation unlocked expanded intelligence sharing with Mexico, gave American law enforcement new tools, and put sustained pressure on the Sheinbaum government to act.
Biden spent four years watching CJNG flood American communities with fentanyl.
Trump called it terrorism, and 12 months later, El Mencho was dead.
The pattern here matters: when El Chapo was recaptured a decade ago, violence also erupted – cartels depend on the threat of retaliation to survive, and that chaos is exactly what they want people to remember.
The long-term math looks different.
El Mencho's son is serving life in federal prison in the United States.
His brother is in Mexican custody.
His daughter is behind bars.
Every potential successor is already off the board – which means the cartel that spent 15 years terrorizing a continent is about to spend the next several fighting itself for control.
Former DEA chief of international operations Mike Vigil said Mexico needs to press the advantage immediately – dismantling CJNG's financial infrastructure, supply chains, and armed networks while the organization is leaderless and reeling.
That is exactly the kind of sustained, intelligence-driven pressure the Trump Administration spent a year building toward.
The Americans watching burning cars from their Puerto Vallarta balconies are seeing the opening round of what comes after Trump's strategy worked.
Sources:
- Bonny Chu, "Tourists trapped in Puerto Vallarta recount cartel retaliation after 'El Mencho' killed," Fox News, February 23, 2026.
- Bonny Chu, "Major drug lord 'El Mencho' killed in Mexican military operation with US intelligence support," Fox News, February 22, 2026.
- Karoline Leavitt, statement on X, February 22, 2026.
- U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, "Cartels," DEA.gov.
- "What to Know About the Operation to Kill Mexican Drug Lord 'El Mencho,'" Time, February 23, 2026.
- "Cartels outgun police: Rocket launchers seized in El Mencho raid spotlight CJNG firepower," Fox News, February 2026.
