Mexico’s security chief, the man who helped lead the operation that killed the drug lord known as “El Mencho,” spends his days and nights inside fortified office buildings, including a one-bedroom apartment in the security ministry built for him.
His quarters – inside a modern complex beside a busy thoroughfare – include a bedroom, gym, kitchen and a conference room that seats 25. From the living room, guests can hear the crack of gunfire from a firing range within the building complex, according to a high-ranking government official who has visited the apartment. A red telephone on his desk provides a direct line to the president.
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Omar Garcia Harfuch, 44, has lived this way since 2020, when on his commute to work a truck cut off his armored Suburban and gunmen disguised as road workers sprayed his vehicle with more than 400 bullets. Harfuch returned fire and survived with three gunshot wounds. Two of his bodyguards and a bystander were killed.
FILE PHOTO: A soldier stands near police officers guarding a crime scene following an assassination attempt of Mexico City’s chief of police Omar Garcia Harfuch, at the upscale neighborhood of Lomas de Chapultepec, in Mexico City, Mexico, June 26, 2020. REUTERS/Luis Cortes/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
The security chief blamed the assassination attempt on Nemesio Oseguera, 59, better known as El Mencho, leader of the brutal Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of Mexico’s largest and bloodiest crime groups. Six years later, bringing down the cartel leader was a deeply personal moment for Harfuch, who friends say was devastated by his security guards’ deaths.
FILE PHOTO: A forensic officer places marks next to bullet casings at a crime scene following an assassination attempt of Mexico City’s chief of police Omar Garcia Harfuch, at the upscale neighborhood of Lomas de Chapultepec, in Mexico City, Mexico, June 26, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Romero/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Harfuch declined to comment for this story. The account is based on interviews with a dozen friends, colleagues and security analysts.
Those close to Harfuch say that he’s unlikely to let his guard down now that El Mencho is gone. But the death of the kingpin has raised the profile of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Minister of Security and Citizen Protection, who’s credited with spearheading her more muscular approach to fighting cartels, so much so he’s considered an early frontrunner for the presidency when her six-year term ends in 2030.
“Omar Garcia Harfuch is the number one presidential candidate today,” said Armando Vargas, the top security expert at the think tank México Evalua. “He is the most visible leader of this new strategy.”
Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar Garcia Harfuch, speaks during a press conference following the killing of Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” in a military operation, at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, February 23, 2026. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha Purchase Licensing Rights
The approach is not without risks: El Mencho’s death triggered a wave of violence across Mexico that killed 25 National Guard members and could fuel deadly feuds as rival cartel factions fight for control.
It’s also a marked departure from former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s “hugs not bullets” philosophy, under which cartels grew in power and reach to control vast swaths of territory and diversified from drugs into extortion, human trafficking, and smuggling fuel.
Harfuch rose to prominence within the Mexico City government when now-President Sheinbaum was the capital’s mayor.
Rodrigo Canales, who advised Sheinbaum on her security strategy, said Harfuch helped her navigate a difficult period early in her mayoral tenure when high-level police officers were accused of corruption.
“He has Claudia’s absolute trust and earned it by being extremely loyal and effective in key moments early in her mayorship,” Canales said.
Sheinbaum promoted Harfuch to head of the city’s police in 2019 after sacking his predecessor over a money laundering scandal.
Harfuch had been in the job for under a year when assassins made the attempt on his life. After initially returning fire, he scrambled into the back seats of his armored SUV and crouched down until reinforcements could arrive, he recalled in interviews after the attack. Twelve alleged members of the Jalisco cartel were arrested and given life sentences.
Source: reuters
