‘Because We Recovered 750 Hectares’: Nayarit Governor Says Threats Prosecutors Tie to the CJNG Began After the State Took Back Land Near Punta Mita, North of Puerto Vallarta
Nayarit Gov. Miguel Ángel Navarro Quintero says the threats against him, which state prosecutors link to the Jalisco cartel (CJNG), began after his government took back 750 hectares of land near Punta Mita (Punta de Mita), the luxury resort area just north of Puerto Vallarta. “Why did they threaten me? Because we recovered 750 hectares,” he told reporters on Oct. 5, 2026, Proceso reported. Asked about the threats, he said: “I would rather die brave than live a coward.”
‘The owner’ wanted the land back
According to Proceso, Navarro said he got a message that “the owner” wanted the land returned. Later, he said, the demand changed to the state handing back 400 hectares and keeping 250. He said he refused. Infobae, reporting on Oct. 7, gives the split as 400 returned and 350 kept. La Razón, also on Oct. 7, said investigators found the claim was for 350 hectares.
Infobae quoted state prosecutor Elvia Ludmila Heredia Verdugo as saying a criminal leader “literally sent a threat,” presenting himself as the owner. She described him as a person killed in an operation in Jalisco “that set off fires across the whole country.” None of the three outlets named him. The governor said a second claim came from two lawyers who were later found dead in Ixtlán del Río. Infobae reported that he called them CJNG emissaries linked to Audias Flores Silva, “El Jardinero,” a CJNG figure arrested earlier in La Yesca.
Where the land is
Infobae reported that the hectares near Punta Mita are part of a wider recovery of land belonging to the Fideicomiso Bahía de Banderas (FIBBA), a state land trust. The recovery covers Bahía de Banderas and Compostela, including Bucerías and San Pancho. State officials say the trust’s land was illegally transferred to former officials, companies and individuals between 2005 and 2021. Infobae said the recovery, called “Mega Operativo Nuevo Nayarit,” has also frozen more than 350 bank accounts. None of these allegations has been proven in court.
A plane crash and leaked schedules
Navarro spoke the day after a Cessna Citation that he sometimes used crashed in Ixtlán del Río on Oct. 4, killing both pilots. Prosecutors are investigating whether he was the target. La Razón reported that Navarro also said chats between officials and criminals showed infiltration of the state prosecutor’s office, the state security ministry and municipal police. No one has been charged over the crash.
See our CJNG profile and Puerto Vallarta safety page.
Sources
- Proceso, “Navarro atribuye amenazas a recuperación de 750 hectáreas: ‘Prefiero muerto valiente que vivo cobarde,’” Oct. 5, 2026
- Infobae, “Los terrenos que desataron las amenazas del CJNG contra el gobernador de Nayarit,” Oct. 7, 2026
- La Razón, “‘Prefiero muerto valiente, que vivo cobarde’: Miguel Navarro,” Oct. 7, 2026
- Photos: Gobierno de Nayarit, via Infobae; Christian Frausto Bernal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Reported Oct. 12, 2026, from the outlets above. The governor’s and prosecutor’s accounts have not been tested in court, the outlets give different hectare figures, and the person said to have claimed the land has not been publicly named.