Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, August 27, 2026 – More than 15 emergency and environmental personnel searched the Mojoneras Canal on Thursday with drones, an airboat, and ground teams as they worked to locate and capture two crocodiles near homes and a school.
The search is concentrated along the canal beside a brickworks in Las Mojoneras. Local reporting described the animals as a male measuring approximately 3.5 meters and a female measuring about 2.5 meters.
Puerto Vallarta Civil Protection and Fire Department personnel are working with the city’s Environmental Sustainability division. An airboat is moving through the canal and surrounding vegetation while four teams remain positioned around the perimeter to watch movement along the waterway.
Drones are checking sections that are difficult to reach from land or water, allowing crews to widen the search without sending personnel into dense vegetation before the animals are located. The municipal operation remained active Thursday afternoon.
Access near the canal and brickworks is being restricted until both crocodiles are secured. A school is located close to the search area, adding a public-safety concern as students prepare to return to classes.
Crews plan to move the animals to the Estero El Salado after their capture. Any attempt to restrain them will wait until personnel determines that conditions are safe.
The operation follows the August 22 flooding in Las Mojoneras, when water entered at least 22 homes and reached approximately 80 centimeters in some sections of the neighborhood. Reports filed during the flood documented at least two crocodiles inside the affected zone.
The flooding occurred after a storm drain became blocked. A separate PVDN review of the neighborhood’s recurring drainage problems detailed efforts to replace an undersized hydraulic crossing beneath Avenida México.
People should remain outside the restricted area, stay away from the canal banks, and report any sighting to 911 or Puerto Vallarta Civil Protection. Crocodiles should not be approached, fed, or restrained. Additional guidance on wildlife encounters is available through PVDN.
