The Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, firmly defended the National Guard (GN) in the face of allegations that have emerged in recent days, after unofficial information circulated about the alleged arrest of eleven members of the Mexican federal police force who were involved in apparent fuel theft (known as huachicol) in the municipality of Apaseo el Alto, Guanajuato.

“Regarding the officers. Always the case, just as you mentioned the Federal Police (PF), there were extraordinary officers in the Federal Police, of course, and the vast majority were people who did extraordinary work, as is the case with the National Guard today. Eleven detained National Guard members are not going to contaminate the 133,000 officers who work daily throughout our country,” Harfuch said in response to a specific question from the media.

These words were spoken during his participation in a dialogue organized by the Political Coordination Board (Jucopo) of the Chamber of Deputies. The official emphasized that the vast majority of officers act with integrity and commitment. At the same time, he urged against generalizing based on an isolated case still under investigation.

SSPC Reinforcement to Combat Fuel Theft in Guanajuato

The secretary announced that, in coordination with Governor Libia García Muñoz Ledo, two special intervention groups have been formed in the state: one led by the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) to advance the prosecution of federal crimes such as fuel theft, and another led by the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), which will have tactical tasks in municipalities with high crime rates.

“Fuel theft is a crime that finances violent organizations. We are going to confront it with technology, intelligence, and coordination, without tolerating internal complicity,” stated the former police chief in Mexico City.

What happened in the operation against alleged fuel theft in Apaseo el Alto?

According to unofficial reports, early on Sunday morning, May 25, municipal police in Apaseo el Alto arrested these federal forces, which included a lieutenant, two second lieutenants, and eight troops, after detecting their presence during an illegal fuel extraction operation in a location on the Celaya-Palmillas highway.

According to sources consulted by local media, the officers were caught guarding a tractor-trailer allegedly connected to a clandestine tap. Two official corporation vehicles, a tanker truck, and a civilian pickup truck were also reportedly seized.

So far, only the mayor of Celaya, Morena member Juan Miguel Ramírez, has specified that the alleged perpetrators “were from another state”:

“It’s all so difficult. They already told me about this issue and they tell me they were from another state. First, their ability to come from another state, to know where the hoses and other things were,” he explained, without naming the entity.

In contrast, Secretary García Harfuch confirmed the arrest of nine people allegedly linked to fuel theft in the municipality of Salamanca. The arrests were made after a supervisory judge issued search warrants for three properties located in the El Calabozo neighborhood and another in Villa Salamanca 400.

During the inspections, authorities seized:

Two handguns
One long gun
A variety of live ammunition
Four vehicles
Four motorcycles
Seven tractor-trailers
Eleven semi-trailers
Twenty-four tank trucks
Two transfer pumps
Three engines
Twelve containers
Approximately 27,000 liters of asphalt

The four properties searched were sealed and placed under police guard for further investigation.

Source: infobae