How to prevent and fix the “hold position” bug in Cartel Protection in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Cartel Protection is the sixth mission in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 campaign, and sees you, playing as John “Soap” MacTavish, accompanying Ghost and Mexican Special Forces agents Alejandro and Rudy through the cartel-controlled Mexican town of Las Almas. You’re still on the hunt for Hassan Zyani, and he still seems to always be just one step ahead.

Related: How to fix the “You’re Too Early” error for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign

Partway through the mission, some players are encountering a bug whereby they cannot progress. The objective is to “hold position”, which requires you to hide behind a rock and kill all pursuing enemies, but for some players, the objective does not update after killing all the enemies.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Cartel Protection “hold position” bug fix

The exact cause of this glitch isn’t yet clear, but it seems to be triggered by doing something the game doesn’t expect you to do earlier in the mission. If you rush ahead or deviate too far from your objectives, then a particular section of dialogue doesn’t complete and the game’s logic gets confused.

So, if you’re affected by the bug, the only way to fix it is to restart the mission and be more patient this time, particularly when you’re in the large, second-floor room in the giant house and the Mexican army attacks you. Alejandro and Ghost both do quite a lot of talking here, so just follow Alejandro’s instructions carefully and patiently. Stay by the windows, hold your fire until Alejandro gives the order, and don’t try jumping out of the window until Alejandro says so.

Follow the above guidelines and, when you escape the house and start running down the rocky hillside, everything should be fine. The “hold position” objective will complete when you kill all of the enemies in sight, and you’ll be able to continue and complete the Cartel Protection mission.