Andy King's Wedding Party Returns Home after being Stranded in Mexico

Newlyweds Trapped in Mexico During Cartel Season - Former Councilman Stuck South of the Border

By David Greene
Bronx Voice
March 18, 2026

NEW YORK, NY - Andy King the former New York City Councilman (C.D. 12) who is now an ordained minister and wedding party leader, and a wedding party of 100 people stranded in Mexico have returned home safely to the United States after being stranded for several days in Mexico in February. Travelers were stranded when violence erupted in the streets after Mexican authorities killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the alleged leader of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel.

When reached by phone King said that the gun battle and killing of Cervantes created a state of excitement and frenzy to fellow guests staying at a resort hotel in Cancun Mexico. King continued, “The images that we were shown and of course a number of guests at the resort we were at had concerns.”

Asked if he had heard gunfire or explosions around the hotel resort, King said, “No. One evening there were some fireworks that were set off and that threw everybody into a frenzy because nobody knew. All of a sudden in the middle of the night someone decided to have a fireworks display. On a normal day it wouldn’t have mattered, but with everything in the news creating a tense situation at the resort, created a tense situation at the resort.”

Americans visiting Mexico stranded due to nationwide shutdown were impacted as a near shutdown of the country took place after the February 22 killing of Cervantes and then the shootings and bombings reported across the country as the cartel carried out retaliatory attacks against the state government and police. A snowstorm that hit New York City on the same day grounded all flights to the city.

Asked if everyone made it back from his wedding party stranded abroad, King replied, “Yes, as a matter of fact, myself and two other folks, we were the last ones to actually leave the resort.” He added, “So everybody’s back in the states. And some folks who were able to get out ended up going to Texas or Florida due to New York travel shutdown, and everywhere else because New York was shut down.”

On March 2, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued spring break travel warning to Americans planning to visit Mexico that began, “Every year, thousands of U.S. citizens visit Mexico during spring break. While the widespread violence following Mexican security operations has ended, risks of crime and kidnapping in Mexico remain.”

As the bombs began to fall in Iran on March 1, and thousands of Americans were left stranded in the Middle East, the U.S. State Department announced travel bans to additional Middle Eastern countries: March 2: Iraq, Jordan. March 3: Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Travel bans have existed in the following countries: Somalia travel ban since May 2025; Iran travel restrictions since December 2025; Syria travel ban since December 2025; Yemen travel ban since December 2025; Afghanistan travel ban since February 2026.

U.S. citizens urged to leave multiple countries after Iran missile and drone attacks including Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Bahrain and Oman.

King said of the latest military action in the Middle East involving U.S. policy, “Regardless of who’s sitting in the chair in the United States of America, the few who are a part of the United States government, you still have to respect and protect the office regardless of who the person is. You can’t go across the globe and disrespect the office of the president and the person who’s sitting in it regardless, if you like the person or not.”