British Columbians in Mazatlán say things appear to be slowly returning to normal after an outbreak of violence Thursday following the arrest of a high-profile cartel leader.
Tourists and residents in the popular vacation hub were urged to stay off the streets amid gunfire and fighting in the state of Sinaloa, and travellers are still being urged to be cautious.
Most of the violence was focused in the city of Culiacan, about 2.5 hours away, but travellers Global News spoke with reported seeing columns of black smoke and trucks on fire in the Mazatlan area as well.
A Canadian government travel advisory for the entire state remained in effect on Friday. People on the ground say the situation has since calmed down.
“My stress level or fear level is pretty much flatlining at zero. To me, it hasn’t affected our life at all,” Harry Chandler of Vancouver, who has lived on and off in Mexico for the last 16 years, told Global News.
“People are going about their business. There was a period yesterday when the government, which obviously has given up on being able to control anything … basically threw up their hands and said everybody should stay home. Obviously you take it a little bit seriously,”
Chandler said there had been no reports of anyone hurt in Mazatlán, and that locals were starting to return to business as usual on Friday.
Dominique Carole Maraj, who moved from B.C. to Mazatlán and operates a Facebook page for expatriates in the city, said that while people had followed the government’s direction to stay home on Thursday, the mood had since changed.
“Today the streets are fine and everyone is driving around again,” she said.
While Thursday’s flare-up made international headlines, Maraj said on a day-to-day basis, the city is no more dangerous than downtown Vancouver.
“We picked Mazatlán in particular because it’s a very safe area, and we feel very well taken care of. I have a two-year-old, a four-year-old and an eight-year-old and parts of the year I’m here myself with the kids, and I would go as far as to say sometimes I feel safer here.”
Darryl Wendland of Chilliwack said that while life in the city was beginning to return to normal, there was still a sense of unease.
“Things are very quiet here. People are very nervous,” he said.
“It is pretty nerve-wracking when you see a pickup truck with four armed soldiers standing ready in the box of the truck. But now, with what’s going on, those guys are definitely a target by the cartel. So you gotta stay away from the danger the best you can.”
Wendland is scheduled to fly home on the 14th, and said he was watching closely to see if his travel would be affected.
The airports in Culiacan and Mazatlan restarted operations at 10 a.m. local time, the local airport authority OMA reported and the federal government confirmed, however multiple flights from Canada on Friday were still cancelled or delayed.
Claire Newell with Travel Best Bets said the situation on the ground remained “very fluid,” and urged anyone with travel plans to stay in close contact with their travel provider.
“If you are scheduled to leave within the next 24-48 hours, regardless of where you are across Canada, you need to make sure your information is current with both the airline and or the tour operator you are booked with so they can get ahold of you, that means your current cell phone and email so they can get in touch with you,” she said.
She also urged Canadians headed to Sinaloa to keep a close eye on the federal government’s travel advisories.
The federal government continues to advise Canadians already in Sinaloa to shelter in place and limit their movements, as well as to avoid large crowds and demonstrations.
Canadians in Sinaloa are also being urged to sign up with the Registration of Canadians Abroad database, and to reach out to Global Affairs Canada or the Canadian embassy in Mexico if they are in need of emergency assistance.
Thursday’s violence erupted after security forces arrested alleged drug trafficker Ovidio Guzman, who is a son of former cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Authorities said Friday that at least 30 people had died in firefights between Mexican security forces and suspected members of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Culiacan and near that city’s airport.
— with files from Sean Boynton