The mayor of Mexico City’s personal secretary and another closed adviser were shot in the capital on Tuesday, an extremely unusual crime targeting senior officials at the core of power.
Mayor Clara Brugada said Ximena Guzmán and José Muñoz were on a central road when they were shot dead in spacious sunlight by attackers traveling on motorcycles.
President Claudia Sheinbaum, who ruled the capital until 2023, received news as she began her live morning press conference. Her security minister, Omar García Harfuch, will arrest and drug seizure of the country in his interactions with the president, in light of the drug that journalists have visited the country.
"We will reach the lowest point of this situation and have justice," Sheinbaum said. The two have been "working in our movement for a long time."
Mexico City is a magnet from tourists around the world, is often considered safer than most other parts of the country and is somewhat isolated compared to the assassinations that occur frequently in some states.
However, Garcia Hafic himself is the target of the assassination of the drug cartel in the capital in 2020.
Authorities have long tried to come up with the idea of a major international drug cartel operating in the capital. They highlighted the city’s more than 80,000 security cameras and highly concentrated police officers.
However, a report from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) this year shows that major groups such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco new generation of cartels have "important" presence.
Local media reported that Guzman is one of Brugada's closest collaborators and has worked with her since she served as mayor of Izta Palapa, the most populous region in the capital.
Since the war on drug cartels began in 2006, violence in Mexico has developed dramatically, and murders and disappearances remain close to record highs.
These groups often engage in destructive turf wars across the country under collusion by authorities to control drug, ransomware and oil theft businesses across the country.
Under great pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, Sheinbaum has taken a more aggressive attitude than her ex, increasing detention, extradition and drug seizures. Trump and his team have not ruled out unilateral U.S. military intervention in the country.
According to civil society statistics, more than 40 candidates were murdered during the 2024 national and local election cycle.