‘Happy to be home’: Saskatchewan travellers return from Mexico following civil unrest

Travellers are returning to Regina from Puerto Vallarta after unrest in the region briefly cancelled flights.

Some of the first vacationers from Puerta Vallarta returned home to Regina earlier this week. Many described the tension and uncertainty as violence broke out in and around the popular vacation destination.

Darlene Lichkowski of Roblin, Man. told CTV News she was ready to kiss ground upon landing in Regina.

“We had a really good holiday; everything was really good. They treated us well – except the last day when everything broke out,” she explained.

“We really didn’t even know what was happening, we just saw some fires from our building, and they told us to just stay indoors and stay safe. Nothing really happened to us; we saw more on the news than we did in reality.”

• Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts sent to your device

While Lichkowski said she never felt in danger, she did note the biggest concern was the uncertainty of getting back home.

“We were never really afraid because they told us it was, basically, they weren’t there to harm civilians. So that part, we knew nothing really was going to happen to us, but it was just the idea that we couldn’t get out if we needed to go home at that time,” she explained. “But we had already pre-booked for today so we’re here and happy to be home.”

Chad Bugiera and his daughter Kaylee also returned home late Tuesday night. They agreed their Mexican vacation was quite ordinary – until it wasn’t.

“When we were getting the text messages from family, we were kind of confused,” Kaylee said.

“We could see in the distance from the hotel there was smoke and stuff and that’s when we found out what was going on,” Chad recounted. “We hear there was a war going on and apocalyptic things happening there and really I didn’t think it was that bad.”

Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho,” served as the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. He was killed on Sunday, Feb. 22 in a Mexican Army operation.

The New Generation Cartel had grown to become the most powerful trafficking organization in the country. El Mencho’s death sparked an outbreak of violence in Puerto Vallarta, with New Generation Cartel members reportedly burning stores, cars and disrupting infrastructure.

The incident caused airlines such as Air Canada, Porter, and WestJet to temporarily suspend flights to the area.