Santa Teresa Airport

The primary reason for the airport's closure was its disablement by the Mexican military (SEDENA - Secretariat of National Defense). Located in the remote and mountainous Sierra del Nayar, a region known for the cultivation of illicit crops and narcotics trafficking, the airstrip was identified as a strategic asset for drug cartels. To disrupt their logistics, the military rendered the runway unusable, a common tactic in its fight against organized crime. While the airstrip may have served legitimate community purposes, its use for illegal activities prompted its forced closure for national security reasons.

The site is completely abandoned and inoperable. High-resolution satellite imagery confirms that the dirt/gravel runway is no longer maintained and has been intentionally disabled. Typically, the military achieves this by digging deep trenches across the runway at regular intervals, placing large boulders on the surface, or plowing it over, making it impossible for any aircraft to land or take off. The area is overgrown with vegetation, and there are no remaining airport facilities or infrastructure. It exists only as a scar on the landscape, visible from the air.

Santa Teresa Airport, more accurately an 'aeropista' or airstrip, held significant dual importance when active:

1. **Legitimate Community Lifeline:** For the isolated indigenous communities (primarily Cora and Huichol) of the El Nayar municipality, the airstrip was a vital link to the outside world. Due to the rugged terrain and lack of extensive road infrastructure, it was used for medical evacuations, transporting doctors, teachers, and government officials, and bringing in essential supplies and mail. Missionary aviation groups also likely used the strip to support their work in the region.

2. **Illicit Operations:** Its remote location, which made it a lifeline for the community, also made it ideal for clandestine operations. Drug trafficking organizations used it and hundreds of similar airstrips in the Sierra Madre Occidental to transport narcotics (marijuana, opium poppy products), weapons, and personnel, effectively bypassing ground-based law enforcement.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Santa Teresa Airport. Given that it was intentionally destroyed by the government as a matter of national security, any effort to rebuild it would be counter-intuitive to the state's objectives in the region. The cost of reconstruction, coupled with the immense challenge of securing it from being used again by criminal organizations, makes reopening economically and strategically unfeasible. The government's focus remains on identifying and disabling such airstrips, not rehabilitating them.