Mexican authorities are scrambling to rescue at between 12 and 16 victims who were taken at gunpoint from an upscale restaurant in the resort town of Puerto Vallarta. 

On Monday afternoon, the Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to Breitbart Texas through a prepared statement the ongoing investigation into a large kidnapping.

According to the information provided by authorities, the kidnapping took place on Monday shortly after 1 a.m. at an upscale restaurant called La Leche in the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.

Based on witness statements a group of gunmen arrived in a Toyota Tacoma and a Chevrolet Suburban to the restaurant and took a group of individuals who had been eating there. When authorities arrived to the restaurant they discovered five vehicles that are believed to have been used by the kidnapping victims and left behind during the kidnapping.

On Monday afternoon, Jalisco’s Governor Aristoteles Sandoval took to social media to issue out a condemnation of the kidnapping and to try to ensure the public that government officials are working in rescuing the victims.

“We will not allow them to steal our tranquility,” Sandoval said on social media.

The resort city of Puerto Vallarta has largely been untouched by the raging cartel violence that has been experienced in most of Mexico. The Mexican state of Jalisco has seen its share of cartel violence due to its proximity to lucrative shipping ports as well as production facilities.

As Breitbart Texas previously reported, the State of Jalisco is home to the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) an offshoot of the Sinaloa Cartel that has made a name for itself due to their ruthless fighting methods. Several mainstream news outlets have since been fooled into reporting that the CJNG had grown to be more powerful than the Sinaloa Cartel. The CJNG has openly challenged Mexican federal forces and been behind a series of ambushes that have killed several local, state and federal police officers. The CJNG has also been behind the downing of a Mexican helicopter filled with Mexican Special Forces soldiers during a fierce gun battle last year, Breitbart Texas reported at the time.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.