By Lizbeth Diaz, Diego Delgado and Sarah Morland
MEXICO CITY, March 13 (Reuters) - Mexico's Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch in real life wears a suit, but he can also now be found in Mexican markets and stores as a miniature doll, dressed as Batman, or sometimes even shirtless.
Cuddly blankets, soft toys and cardboard cutouts featuring the minister have gone viral in the Latin American country following the February 22 raid that killed infamous cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, better known as El Mencho, head of the brutal Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Images of 44-year-old Garcia Harfuch, who has become a heartthrob in Mexico thanks to his good looks, now adorn a long list of products: party decorations, cushions, towels and dolls known as "Harfuchitos" or little Harfuches.
Political and security analysts say Garcia Harfuch is a likely presidential contender in 2030, when President Claudia Sheinbaum's term ends.
Early polling shows Garcia Harfuch ahead of other prominent political figures, including Mexico's Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who sought the candidacy in 2023 and is considered likely to try to run again.
Being immortalized as a doll is an honor most often reserved for presidents in Mexico, as well as the beloved mascot of the country's omnipresent chain of pharmacies, Dr. Simi.
Garcia Harfuch's popularity has exploded following the raid that killed El Mencho.
The operation, which Garcia Harfuch helped lead, was personal for the security chief, who blamed El Mencho for a 2020 assassination attempt that left him with three bullet wounds and killed two of his bodyguards.
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Garcia Harfuch did not respond to Reuters' request for comment regarding the popularity of merchandise featuring his image.
'MEXICO'S NEW DADDY'
"He is Mexico's crush," said Carolina Garcia, who sells Garcia Harfuch merchandise on demand from her home printing business in Tlaxcala state. "Of course, we get more orders from women, as gifts, but we've also gotten some orders from men."
Meanwhile, images that appear AI-generated showing the politician promoting products such as hair oil have proliferated online, as have apps and tutorials that allow users to generate photos of themselves hugging Garcia Harfuch or lying together on the grass.
On MercadoLibre, Latin America's top online marketplace, a Harfuch blanket was listed among the platform's bestsellers. Amazon, meanwhile, offered a bed-sized flannel throw emblazoned with the minister's face.
Ingrid Rebeca Sanchez, 22, who designs Garcia Harfuch merchandise at a factory in Mexico City, told Reuters the products were initially slow to take off, but since El Mencho's killing, business has boomed, with as many as 150 blankets selling per day and orders even coming from the United States.
Now, the factory is almost exclusively producing Garcia Harfuch products and Sanchez is working on a new line of bobbleheads and life-size pillows.
"All the ladies love him, they want to sleep with him, they want to dry themselves off with him," she said. "He's Mexico's new daddy."
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz, Diego Delgado and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Michael Perry)