Police Chief Eduardo Llanas resigns in Puerto Vallarta. His deputy takes temporary command as senior administrator Luz Divina Castellón leaves.
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, November 11, 2026 – Police Chief Eduardo Horacio Llanas Cuevas resigned, and senior City Hall administrator Luz Divina Castellón Álvarez also left her post.
The Oficialía de Partes, the City Hall office that accepts official filings, received the resignation letter. Faustino Ruiz Carreño, the police department’s operations deputy, took temporary charge of the Comisaría de Seguridad Ciudadana, according to the report.
As of Wednesday morning, City Hall had not yet issued a public statement on either departure or named a permanent police chief.
Mayor Luis Ernesto Munguía González appointed Llanas Cuevas on Oct. 1, 2024, his first day in office. By February, Llanas Cuevas and Ruiz Carreño were directing overnight patrols together after convenience stores were looted during the weekend of fires and roadblocks across Puerto Vallarta.
Castellón Álvarez took over the Oficialía Mayor Administrativa in January, after Lucía Carmina Michel Pérez moved to the Sistema DIF Municipal. The office oversees city hiring and shares responsibility with the treasurer for keeping personnel spending within the approved budget.
In September, the City Council ordered a payroll audit and told the personnel office to stop hiring outside the approved staffing plan. By mid-October, about 2,000 city employees had missed a payday. Councilman Víctor Bernal said the city was struggling to cover payroll, patch potholes, and keep the main road into town clean. “There isn’t even enough for the basics,” he said.
City Hall has yet to say who’ll oversee hiring and payroll or whether Castellón Álvarez will move to another city job.
