Alfredo Jiménez Mota

In Mexico, seven reporters have vanished in three years. Many had investigated links between public officials and drug traffickers. Are the crime groups changing tactics, or is a new type of perpetrator at work? 

CPJ research indicates that the following journalists have disappeared while doing their work. Although some of them are feared dead, no bodies have been found, and they are therefore not classified as "Killed." If a journalist disappeared after being held in government custody, CPJ classifies him or her as "Imprisoned" as a way to hold the government accountable for the journalist's fate.

New York, April 17, 2007—A Mexican crime reporter who was abducted on Monday by armed men in Agua Prieta, a city on the Arizona border, is missing. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether the incident was related to his journalistic work.

Saúl Noé Martínez Ortega, 36, who covers crime for the newspaper Interdiario in Agua Prieta, was driving a black SUV around midnight when another vehicle started a high-speed chase, according to local press reports.

New York, January 26, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the fate of Mexican reporter Rodolfo Rincón Taracena, who has been missing in the southern Tabasco state since Saturday night. CPJ is investigating whether Rincón’s disappearance is linked to his professional work.

Rincón, an investigative crime reporter for the Villahermosa-based daily Tabasco Hoy, was last seen leaving the newsroom around 7 p.m., a colleague who asked not to be identified told CPJ. Rincón left his personal belongings and camera at his desk and told his editor that he would be back shortly, the source said. No one has heard from Rincón since.

New York, August 10, 2006—The body of Enrique Perea Quintanilla, a longtime police reporter who became editor of a crime magazine, was found on the outskirts of the northern city of Chihuahua on Wednesday afternoon. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether Perea's murder is related to his work.

New York, March 10, 2006—Mexican photographer Jaime Arturo Olvera Bravo was shot to death Thursday outside his home in La Piedad in the central state of Michoacán. The special prosecutor for crimes against journalists has opened a preliminary inquiry and will work with state authorities to establish if the murder was related to Olvera’s work. CPJ is also investigating the slaying.

Olvera, a freelance photographer and former correspondent for the Morelia-based daily La Voz de Michoacán, left his home around 8 p.m. with his 5-year-old son. While they were waiting at a bus stop, an unknown assailant approached Olvera and fired at close range, according to local press reports. A bullet struck Olvera in the neck, and he died at the scene. His son was unharmed.

MEXICO

Journalists working along the U.S.-Mexico border were under siege
from organized criminals targeting them for coverage of drug trafficking. One reporter was killed for her work and another went missing, making northern Mexico one of the most dangerous spots for journalists in Latin America. Facing intimidation and attack, journalists in the northern states reported greater self-censorship.

New York, February 8, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists applauds a Mexican official's announcement today that the government will name a special prosecutor to investigate crimes against journalists. The move comes two days after gunmen stormed a newspaper office in the U.S.-Mexico border town of Nuevo Laredo, seriously wounding one reporter.

New York, February 7, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday's vicious attack against the offices of the newspaper El Mañana in Nuevo Laredo, a city on the U.S.-Mexican border that is plagued by drug-related violence. Unidentified assailants fired assault rifles and tossed a grenade at the newspaper's offices, causing considerable damage and seriously wounding one reporter. The paper's editor was murdered just two years ago.