Omar Garcia Harfuch: First interview after CJNG's attempted assassination

 Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat  TY Gus  Razon

Three months after the attack suffered by the head of the Secretariat for Citizen Security (SSC), Omar García Harfuch, in which three people died, the official stressed that the one who saved his life was the police who he himself directs, because thanks to the rapid response of the uniformed officers that prevented those responsible from continuing to shoot. a

“I believe that God saved my life, of course; but I think also the great response from my colleagues, the quick response from the police, because if the police don't come, these guys keep shooting all the time, they had two thousand bullets left. The same police that I lead, that I have the honor to lead, was who t saved my life, ”he said.

In an interview with Carlos Loret de Mola, the first to a media outlet after the attack, the secretary recounted how he experienced the attack.

“That day I left a little later than normal and, when I am moving forward in the front seat, Edgar was driving, and Rafael was directly behind me, when we crossed  Monte Blanco street, there is a stop that forces the truck to stop a bit, a three and a half ton white truck  crossed, it was not crossed at excessive speed (…). When it crossed, the first impact on the truck roars” he said.

García Harfuch asserted that before the first shot, he knew it was an attack against him. When the first shots rang out, he said, it was a time of much confusion, dust, noise.

“Rafa calls for help over the radio then dies in seconds, at that moment I don't realize that he is dead, it is three minutes later when all the sirens, the patrols, and so on, arrive. I hear a colleague yelling at me, I attempted to kick the door with my leg, then realized that I was unable  because it was the leg that was badly hurt and that's where I turned and  see that Rafa is dead .

“It is very difficult to say this, because he died doing his job, like other colleagues, like many colleagues in this city, not every day, thank God; but we have a lot of police casualties. What happened to me, Rafa and Édgar happens a lot to several colleagues; But they are not in armor, they do have a pistol.”

Committed to the security of the Mexican capital, the official pointed out that although fear persists that a similar attack will occur again, above it is the conviction of the work carried out by the agency.

“The only thing that gives me great pleasure is that if they try again and still succeed, they win nothing. There are hundreds and thousands of police in this country, military, sailors, police, intelligence agents, investigative agents who are convinced of what we are doing. They are convinced that the only thing we cannot allow is for organized crime to advance in this country, and that helps mitigate fear, "he said.

In this sense, he highlighted the support and conviction that the Head of Government, Claudia Sheinbaum, has maintained for her work.

“The Head of Government has a fortitude and a conviction of what we are doing as a team in the Government of Mexico City. So she has shared the vision that ... sharing  and supports the vision that only with prevention, the Mexico City police would be able to reduce crimes in Mexico City, ”she said.

Asked about the security with which he held the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación  responsible for the attack, García Harfuch recalled that it was previous investigations that pointed out that they directed the attack, although to date he does not have a concrete answer as to what their motives were.

“I don’t have a concrete answer as of today (of  why CJNG would want him dead), we have carried out many operations to different groups for many years. Today I would not have the concrete answer, we have no doubt that it was a group that comes from those states and that it has to do with that criminal group, "he said.

Given the possibility that he will be considered to take the place of Alfonso Durazo if he decides to leave the title of the Federal Security Secretariat, the capital official said that his commitment is absolute with the Head of Government of Mexico City and, therefore he would not like to leave his position as local secretary of Citizen Security.

Esta es la primera entrevista que concede después del atentado en su contra, @OHarfuch, cómo fueron esos minutos bajo 400 balazos, qué hizo para salvarse y si la gente en la Ciudad de México se puede sentir segura después de algo así. #Loret @latinus_us https://t.co/Sd8e4UAZc9 pic.twitter.com/LG5VXdOoc8

— Carlos Loret de Mola (@CarlosLoret) September 25, 2020