After killing of top drug lord, cartels use fake news to spread fear in Mexico
A drone view shows vehicles consumed by flames blocking the road connecting Puerto Vallarta with the town of La Desembocada days after a series of blockades and attacks by organized crime following a military operation in which cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera, "El Mencho," was killed, on the outskirts of Puerto Vallarta, in La Desemboscada, Mexico, February 24, 2026. Photo by Daniel Becerril / REUTERS
Reuters
After Mexican forces killed the country's most wanted cartel leader on Sunday, false accounts of spectacular violence swept across social media, fueled by what researchers say was a coordinated propaganda campaign by organized crime.
Unrest did indeed break out in many parts of Mexico as loyalists to El Mencho, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, set up roadblocks, torched buses and stores, and attacked gas stations in retaliation for his slaying.
But online, things looked even worse. Among the false reports: The Guadalajara airport taken over by assassins. A plane on the runway was on fire. Smoke was billowing from a church and multiple buildings in the city of Puerto Vallarta, popular with tourists.
These images, which were reviewed by Reuters, were false but shared tens of thousands of times.
Misinformation routinely proliferates after major news events, particularly since the advent of artificial intelligence.
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