In Puerto Vallarta, NJGC is the big power player cartel, and it was reported last year that they had stake in 70% of the legitimate businesses in the city. The cartels don’t play around in tourist areas, that’s where all of their money comes from.

Lived there for a little under a year, can confirm that the cartel was everywhere, and that they played nice as long as you didn’t mess with them in any way. Honestly felt safer there than in any American city I’ve been in in a long time, even when walking around alone in the middle of the night.