Mexico City’s former top law enforcement official is denying claims that he left the country over a planned cartel hit. In 2020, Mexico’s Cartel Jalisco New Generation sent four squads of hitmen to carry out a large-scale ambush attack that failed to kill that top cop. The attack left the law enforcement official injured. Two others and an innocent bystander.

On Tuesday Omar Harfuch, the former head of Mexico City’s police forces and former gubernatorial candidate denied the claims that he had fled the country over another planned hit against him by Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). In a short statement, Harfuch claimed that he had been the target of threats in the past and that he had traveled for a vacation with his family and would return in due time.

The message came almost immediately after Carlos Loret de Mola published a column claiming that Harfuch had fled to Europe after being warned by Mexico’s National Intelligence Center (CNI) about an impending attempt on his life by CJNG. According to the column, the head of the CNI, retired general Audomaro Martinez Zapata had contacted Harfuch directly about the threat and how the cartel planned to “finish the job” referring to another attempt on Harfuch’s life in 2020.

As Breitbart Texas reported at the time, four teams of seven gunmen each from CJNG arrived in Mexico City to set up a large-scale ambush attack against Harfuch. The gunmen used .50 caliber weapons, machine guns, and other high-powered weapons. After the attack, authorities arrested dozens of members of CJNG in connection with the attack and the cartel’s attempt to move into Mexico City.

The new attempt comes at a time when Harfuch’s former boss and personal friend, Claudia Sheinbaum, is the presidential candidate for the Morena Party. Currently, that party has been harshly criticized for its soft approach to fighting drug cartels due to the ideology of Morena’s founder and current president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.     

“L.P. Contreras” from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report.