New York, May 26, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement in response to the killing of Mexican crime reporter Eliseo Barrón of the Torreón-based daily La Opinión that belongs to the Milenio media group. Barrón was abducted by unidentified hooded gunmen Monday and found dead this morning in the town of Gómez Palacio, according to local press reports: “We are shocked by the brutal abduction and killing of Eliseo Barrón and offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” said Carlos Lauría, CPJ’s Senior Program Coordinator for the Americas. “A democracy like Mexico cannot tolerate that a reporter serving the public good by covering crime and corruption is bundled out of his home by hooded gunmen and driven to his death. State and federal authorities must investigate this crime vigorously, and end this plague of violence against the press.”