Nineteen people are arrested for failed assassination of Mexico City's police chief by the Jalisco cartel which left two cops - including his bodyguard - and a mother-of-two dead

  • At least 19 people have been arrested for a failed plot to kill police chief Omar García Harfuch 
  • Gabriela Gómez, who was shot dead while sitting in her car during the shootout, has now been laid to rest
  • The 26-year-old was with her husband and other families on their way to sell 
  • Harfuch was struck three times but survived during the assassination attempt which also left two police officers - including his bodyguard - dead 

At least 19 people have been arrested for a failed plot by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel to kill Mexico City police chief Omar García Harfuch. 

The Friday shooting, supported by three local gangs, saw Harfuch struck three times but he survived. Two other cops - including Harfuch's bodyguard - and married mother-of two Gabriela Gómez, who was caught in the crossfire, died.

Gómez was laid to rest Sunday. She had been in a vehicle with her husband, José García, when she was shot in the head during the ambush in the exclusive Lomas de Chaputelpec area. 

The 26-year-old woman's sister, Tania Sandoval, was also in the car and suffered a non-life threatening gun shot wound.

Pictured are the 12 men who participated in last Friday morning's attack against the police chief of Mexico City

Pictured are the 12 men who participated in Friday morning's attack against the police chief of Mexico City

One of the three alleged members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel who participated in a plot to kill the Mexico City police chief
Pictured is one of three suspects arrested in Mexico City after a cartel launched an attack that wounded the police chief
One of the 12 alleged members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel

Pictured are three of the 12 individuals who participated in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel's alleged plot to assassinate the police chief of Mexico City on Friday morning

Gabriela Gómez (pictured second from left) with her husband, José García, their two daughters and her sister, Tania Sandoval (right). Gómez was in a car with her husband, sister and two siblings when she was shot in the head during a shootout Friday between cartel assassins and the police who were protecting Mexico City's police chief, Omar García Harfuch

Gabriela Gómez (pictured second from left) with her husband, José García, their two daughters and her sister, Tania Sandoval (right). Gómez was in a car with her husband, sister and two siblings when she was shot in the head during a shootout Friday between cartel assassins and the police who were protecting Mexico City's police chief, Omar García Harfuch

More than a dozen men opened fire on a caravan of bulletproof SUVs that were transporting Harfuch at 6.38am.

The body of Gómez, a native of the State of Mexico municipality of Xalatlaco who had been working at a family street food stand business since she was 10-year-old, was turned over to her family for burial on Saturday afternoon when a viewing was held at her home in the El Potrero neighborhood.  

Mexico City's Executive Commission for Attention to Victims said in a statement: 'Communication and follow-up are maintained with her husband, indirect victim and close relatives, whom commission staff have accompanied in the process, guaranteeing at all times the legal, psycho-emotional, and social work support, as well as the supply of funeral services and food assistance are covered.' 

They have been issued a payment of just 10,000 Mexican pesos ($463). 

Mexico City police chief Omar García Harfuch (left) at his hospital bed during a visit with mayor Claudia Sheinbaum

Mexico City police chief Omar García Harfuch (left) at his hospital bed during a visit with mayor Claudia Sheinbaum 

Pictured: Local media reported that this image shows the Mexico City police chief being treated at the scene by paramedics. Harfuch was shot three times and one of his bodyguards died trying to protect him

Pictured: Local media reported that this image shows the Mexico City police chief being treated at the scene by paramedics. Harfuch was shot three times and one of his bodyguards died trying to protect him

However, Mexico City congressman Federico Döring blasted the government for not helping the Gómez family enough.

Döring also criticized Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, who took to Twitter to share a picture of her sitting next to Harfuch at the hospital.

'This woman was a worker and lived daily. Do not leave the family alone,' Döring said, according to Mexican newspaper El Universal

'Hopefully they have clearer care and we demand that the government give them all the support, ranging from housing and scholarships to guaranteeing the university studies of the minors and that they are not left unprotected.'

Patricia Gómez  (pictured) shows a family picture of her sister Gabriela Gómez, the 26-year-old married mother of two girls who was slain Friday in Mexico City during an attack launched by cartel hitmen who were trying to kill the police chief of Mexico's capital

Patricia Gómez  (pictured) shows a family picture of her sister Gabriela Gómez, the 26-year-old married mother of two girls who was slain Friday in Mexico City during an attack launched by cartel hitmen who were trying to kill the police chief of Mexico's capital

Who are the Jalisco New Generation Cartel? 

Founded in 2009, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is a Mexican criminal organization based in Jalisco, to the east of Mexico City. 

The cartel is headed by Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera Cervantes, one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. 

The clan is currently at war with a number of other powerful drug cartels for control of various Mexican states. 

Their criminal activities involve drug, arms and human trafficking, as well as murder, torture and extortion. 

The CJNG are currently considered the second most powerful cartel in Mexico, trailing behind Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's Sinaloa Cartel. 

In 2019, a bill was introduced in the US to designate the CJNG, among other criminal gangs, as foreign terrorist organizations. 

Though President Trump agreed with the sentiment, he is holding off of the move at the request of the Mexican president. 

They have has become Mexico's fastest-rising criminal organization, with a reputation for ruthlessness and violence unlike any since the fall of the old Zetas cartel.

In parts of the country it is fighting medieval-style battles, complete with fortified redoubts, to expand nationwide, from the outskirts of Mexico City, into the tourist resorts around Cancún, and along the northern border across from the United States.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has a presence in 24 of 32 states in Mexico and has shipped cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl-laced heroin to the United States

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has a presence in 24 of 32 states in Mexico and has shipped cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl-laced heroin to the United States

A burned bus (photographed October 16, 2019) sits on the side of road in El Aguaje, Mexico, where Jalisco New Generation Cartel gunmen ambushed and killed Michoacán state police agents

A burned bus (photographed October 16, 2019) sits on the side of road in El Aguaje, Mexico, where Jalisco New Generation Cartel gunmen ambushed and killed Michoacán state police agents

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel so likes violence and heavy armament that U.S. prosecutors said its operatives tried to buy belt-fed M-60 machine guns in the United States, and once brought down a Mexican military helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade.

But the transnational criminal organization is also mounting a propaganda campaign, using videos and social media to threaten rivals while promising civilians that it won't prey on them with extortion and kidnappings.

It is a promise that cartels in Mexico have long made, and always broken. But the cartel's onslaught is so powerful that it appears to have convinced some Mexicans, especially those who are tired of local gangs, to accept control by one large, powerful cartel.

'It seems like the Jalisco New Generation group is taking over everywhere,' said a priest in the western city of Apatzingan. 'It seems like they allow people to work, and they don't prey on civilians, they don't kidnap, they don't steal vehicles, they just go about their drug business.'

The priest, who is not being identified to prevent reprisals, would rather not have any gang in town. But one of his parishioners was recently kidnapped, raped and killed by members of a local gang, the Viagras, even after her family paid a ransom; locals are so sick of that gang they'd rather have anybody else move in.

He is not the only one. A restaurant owner in the central state of Guanajuato - where Jalisco is fighting for control with the local Santa Rosa de Lima gang - says he would prefer that Jalisco take over, because of the local gang's chaotic ways.

'Things are quieter when Jalisco is around,' said the restaurant owner, who also asked his name not be used.

A woman who has lived for years under Jalisco cartel rule in a small town says she seeks out local Jalisco enforcers to solve common crime problems. 'If you have a problem, you go to them. They solve it quickly,' she said.

It is all a lie, albeit one that the cartel likes to repeat.

'Beautiful people, continue your routine,' the cartel said in a banner hung from an overpass in 2019 to reassure residents of Apatzingan, Michoacán, that the cartel was moving in to kick out the Viagras. Beneath and around the banner a total of 19 corpses hung from ropes, lay piled on the roadway or were scattered, hacked to pieces.