Minister of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch speaks during a presentation of incoming President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Cabinet members in Mexico City on July 4, 2024. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Six years ago, Mexico’s president disbanded the country’s Federal Police and handed security responsibilities fully to the military. Now, his successor has quietly begun to build an elite civilian investigative and special operations force to fight the drug cartels.
President Claudia Sheinbaum had already shown a willingness early in her presidency to move away from former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s often-criticized “hugs, not bullets” strategy. It focused on addressing the social roots of crime rather than directly confronting Mexico’s powerful cartels.
Sheinbaum’s security chief, Omar García Harfuch, is drawing on his law enforcement contacts — mostly from the former ranks of the Federal Police — to claw back security capabilities from the armed forces with a civilian force under his direct command.
The government has yet to formally announce the new National Operations Unit, known by its Spanish initials UNO, but its existence is an open secret among former members of the Federal Police, where García Harfuch started his career.
Three Mexican officials, all of whom requested anonymity to speak about the still unannounced force, confirmed its existence to The Associated Press. Security analyst David Saucedo, who has spoken with people who have joined the force, said he believes García Harfuch’s main objective is to have an armed force that allows him to meet demands from Washington.
UNO takes shape
The unit began to form shortly after Sheinbaum took office and it hopes to have 800 members by the end of the year, said one federal official who is familiar with many of the unit’s details. On March 31, while García Harfuch was in Washington meeting with members of the United States government, the security ministry published a call for college graduates to make up “the first generation of investigative and intelligence agents,” saying only they would be part of a specialized group to strengthen the country’s security.
UNO will have three branches distributed geographically across Mexico, as well as a high-impact team that will be the “elite of the elite,” the federal official said. Its current members are mostly former Federal Police and members of the special operations team García Harfuch created when he was Mexico City’s police chief. Most have previously received training from security forces from Colombia, France, Spain or the United States.