In nine years of wintering in Puerto Vallarta, the sun-washed resort city on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, Berl Schwartz has heard plenty of rumors about the cartel presence.
The Jalisco New Generation cartel was said to be laundering money in the swanky hotels and the construction industry. Sometimes a business would suddenly close; many people assumed it hadn’t paid the extortion fee. But to Schwartz, 79, an American retiree, the cartel was nearly invisible.
On Sunday, that changed. Cartel operatives went on a rampage after the killing of their leader, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, setting fire to cars and buses and attacking stores. From his apartment balcony, Schwartz could hear blaring alarms and…