Mexico’s government has been hyping up minor seizures and cartel arrests as part of a PR strategy attempting to appease the Trump administration. Trump officials highlighted Meixco’s inaction against cartels and corruption. The American president has threatened them with tariffs and other punitive measures.
The strategy is the brainchild of Mexico’s Public Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch, a long-time ally and associate of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Since taking over all federal law enforcement for Mexico, Harfuch has kept a tight reign on disseminating law enforcement information.
Whenever a significant arrest occurs, none of the press offices at any of Mexico’s military or federal police forces are allowed to disseminate any information until Harfuch approves it and tweets it out first. Such was the case of the recent mid-level cartel figure in Nuevo Laredo, where, as Breitbart Texas reported, Harfuch announced just after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had a phone call with U.S. President Donald J. Trump. While the lawman claimed that the arrested individual was the top cartel leader, he was actually a regional boss who led a strike team. U.S. law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart Texas that he was significant but not the top boss.
While Harfuch appears to be a charismatic and professional lawman on the surface, he has been the target of much controversy over corruption and bribery allegations.
In the most recent news release from the federal security cabinet, authorities listed the results of three days of work during which they claimed to have made several arrests and seizures throughout Mexico. However, a closer look at the incidents listed shows that Mexico has been hyping up its seizures while, in reality, criminal organizations continue to operate with almost complete impunity throughout Mexico.
In the case of the arrests, authorities have been hyping up minor cartel figures and simply hiding behind the term “violence generators” when they arrest easily replaceable cartel members.
On the highlights of their report, Mexico’s security forces claimed to have seized 16 rifles and over 3,300 rounds of ammunition in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, as well as an armored vehicle, two regular vehicles, and some ballistic plates.
The report then breaks down other weapons and drug seizures throughout Mexico. However, all of the seizures are small for all of the military and federal forces deployed throughout Mexico, and more than 10,000 National Guard soldiers were sent to the northern border after Trump’s tariff threat.
Harfuch has a history of embellishing seizures and their effect on criminal organizations. In December, authorities seized 1,100 kilograms of fentanyl during a raid in Sinaloa, at the time authorities did not provide details on any arrests but did claim that the seizure was worth more than $400,000,000 and was a heavy blow to organized crime.
However, according to a report from LeMonde, the production cost of fentanyl in Mexico is approximately $17,000 per kilogram, which would put the actual blow of the seizure at approximately $20 million and not $400 million as Mexico’s government claimed.
In past interviews on Mexican television, Harfuch has talked about the effectiveness of his forces in Sinaloa where rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel wage a fierce turf war. Harfuch claimed that his forces had seized numerous armored vehicles and several weapons.
What Harfuch does not mention is that his forces are not actively fighting cartel gunmen in many parts of Mexico but are simply showing up after the cartel shootouts.
In the case of Tamaulipas, the seized armored vehicles have all been left behind by gunmen from rival factions of the Gulf Cartel that have been fighting for control of lucrative smuggling territories and not from clashes with Mexican authorities.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with the Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at
