Car on fire outside of Ken Farough's condo in Puerto Vallarta (Image Credit: Contributed / Ken Farough)

By Michael Reeve

MEXICO CARTEL FIGHT

Calm beginning to set in for Canadians in Puerto Vallarta

Feb 23, 2026 | 4:16 PM

PUERTO VALLARTA — Chaos in the streets of Mexico has calmed after a night filled with fires, explosions and death. Early Sunday (Feb. 22), Mexican officials killed the boss of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel during an attempt to capture him at his residence near Puerto Vallarta. The death of the man known as ‘El Mencho’, led to a widespread response from members of the cartel, killing at least 25 members of the Mexican National Guard.

Black smoke billowing into the sky, a military helicopter flying low overhead, complete with a .50cal machine gun hanging out the side and vehicles torched just feet away. Those were the scenes for Kamloops’ Ken Farough yesterday in Puerto Vallarta. 

“Eventually (we) went up on the deck and everybody else in our condo building was up there,” Farough told CFJC News, “and we just started seeing all these fires popping up all over the place, and then they started popping up right around our condo. There were about three cars on fire right by our condo and it just started spreading out and you could see it moving through the city as they were blowing up cars.”

Nearby in the Marina District, it’s a similar story. Word began to circle around as smoke was seen filling the air, though real information was tough to come by.

“It just got plentiful, a few more plumes going up and then all of the news popped up about what was going on,” said Ted Herman.

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“It was hard to get reliable source of news,” added Suzanne Herman, who noted misinformation was swirling during the early hours. 

At least on the surface, things have calmed as of Monday, with tourists and locals back in the streets, stocking up on supplies for the days ahead.

“We went out this morning, looking for little markets that were open to buy some supplies, some food, water and that kind of stuff. They are slowly starting to open up. We just saw our first bus move on the way home this morning. We saw the first bus moving around that time,” said Farough. “It’s starting to get back into normal again, I guess you could say.”

Flights out of Puerto Vallarta have been upended, with the Herman’s hoping to return home this weekend.

“We have several friends that are down here that are having trouble getting flights out, a lot of people are stuck on the ground here,” said Herman. “There are no hotel rooms available because it was 98 per cent occupancy in the city.”

Farough is down in Puerto Vallarta for a number of months, saying he’s taking it day by day with regards to a potential expediated return to Canada.

“Nobody was really frightened. In our condo, we are really secure, we have secure gates, so we weren’t nervous really at all,” said Farough. “It was just kind of sad. You see all the destruction and knowing these Mexican people are going to lose their jobs for a while that were in these stores that they were blowing up. They were blowing up all the Oxxo’s because they were government owned.”

Despite the wild night and uncertain future, Farough plans to return again next year.