Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, August 8, 2026 – Nayarit is concentrating state and federal security forces in Bahía de Banderas and Compostela after several violent episodes along the coastal corridor immediately north of Puerto Vallarta.
Gov. Miguel Ángel Navarro Quintero said the operation will combine Nayarit State Police with the Mexican Navy, Army, National Guard and state prosecutors. He also plans to move the state’s Peace and Security Roundtable to Aguamilpa in Bahía de Banderas next week, placing senior security officials in the same mountain community where security forces were attacked days earlier.
The deployment gives Bahía de Banderas and neighboring Compostela a specific place in Nayarit’s wider security strategy. In remarks reported Friday, Navarro identified both municipalities as areas where he wants State Police to work closely with federal institutions.
The operation is on the Nayarit side of the state line, but it covers the corridor extending north from Puerto Vallarta through Bahía de Banderas and into Compostela. Federal Highway 200 crosses both municipalities and links the bay with communities farther north along the Nayarit coast.
The reinforcement also follows a change in the way Nayarit deploys its State Police. On August 4, the state ended its Policía Coordinada arrangement, which had paired state officers with municipal police under local command.
Nayarit Security Secretary Manases Langarica Verdín said state officers were being returned to the direct control of the state security department to rebuild its operational strength. Municipal departments retain their local policing responsibilities while sharing information and intelligence with the state.
Navarro has also publicly raised concerns about possible criminal links involving some municipal police officers in Nayarit. In announcing the new deployment, he specifically named Bahía de Banderas and Compostela among the municipalities where State Police will maintain close coordination with federal forces.
Aguamilpa has become one of the focal points. During the early hours of August 2, an armed attack occurred while security personnel were conducting patrols in the mountain community. One Navy member was wounded, and a suspected attacker was killed.
Four days later, another violent encounter unfolded farther north in Compostela. Reporting on the August 6 operation described Navy personnel pursuing along Federal Highway 200 between Las Varas and the Guayabitos area. One man died, and three others were injured. Weapons and ammunition were recovered after the pursuit ended near Lima de Abajo.
Federal security agencies were already operating in Bahía de Banderas before this week’s incidents. On July 23, the Mexican Navy announced the arrest of Óscar “N” in the municipality. Federal authorities identified him as a priority target sought by Nuevo León and linked him to drug distribution, weapons trafficking, extortion and homicides.
Navarro’s latest order brings those separate operations under a wider security push across the southern Nayarit corridor. The next state Peace and Security Roundtable will take that coordination directly to Aguamilpa, while the expanded deployment covers both Bahía de Banderas and Compostela.
