The Mexican government and U.S Intelligence Task Forces led a raid that led to the killing of one of the most wanted Mexican drug cartel leaders, El Mencho, on Sunday, February 22. “El Mencho,” which is a nickname for Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, was a powerful, long-time leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a violent group responsible for trafficking a large amount of illegal drugs into the United States. The cartel is most active in West-central Mexico, including the states of Jalisco, Guanajuato and Colima and the populated city of Guadalajara. The cartel is not only involved in trafficking drugs from Mexico to as far as Australia, but the cartel is also involved in growing avocados, providing a steady source of income and profiting off the avocado boom in Mexico. The cartel often seizes farms where they grow avocados or capture avocado shipments and sells them on the Black Market. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is also a part of illegal gold mining in South America; to get their hands on mercury, one of the most deadly chemicals in the world. The cartel has also made over eight billion dollars after capturing and smuggling over 200 tons of the substance in the last few years.

 While the killing of “El Mencho” was significant, arguably, the violence the raid sparked is more so. Members of the Jalisco Generation Cartel responded destructively, setting numerous cars ablaze and blocking over 250 roads across 20 states in Mexico. Mexican officials swiftly cleared the roadblocks by Monday morning, but the tension remains, with schools and businesses remaining closed, and fear especially remains among travelers.

Numerous Americans were caught in the crossfire of the cartel violence while vacationing. The states with the cartel uprisings are currently banned for U.S. travelers, as well as a few others, including Zacatecas, Jalisco, and Michoacán, which all include popular tourist locations and neighbor the capital, Mexico City. U.S. authorities warned many U.S. tourists in the affected areas to stay where they were and shelter in place since many cartel members were targeting Americans in particular. Major U.S., Canadian and other international airlines cancelled the majority of all flights to Mexico as a result of the violence. More specifically, Puerto Vallarta, a very popular tourist location for American travelers, was hit hard by the cartel uprisings, leaving many Americans stranded with no way out, even if there were flights.

On Tuesday, February 24, the U.S. lifted the shelter-in-place order for Americans while popular airlines also resumed regular operations, bringing home the tourists. The initial wave of terror from the cartel on Sunday is over, but it is not guaranteed that the first wave was the last one, as many wait to see what the cartel does next without their leader.