Journalist Carlos Castro, 25, was shot dead January 8, 2026, while eating at a restaurant in the eastern state of Veracruz’s Poza Rica, a city some 130 miles northeast of Mexico City, according to news reports and a statement by the Veracruz State Commission for Attention to and Protection of Journalists (CEAPP), a government agency. Reports mentioned multiple male attackers approaching the journalist, shooting him, then fleeing the scene.
Castro led the news website Código Norte Veracruz, which uses Facebook as its platform, and specialized in covering crime in Poza Rica, according to news reports. He was also a correspondent for the local newspaper, Noreste.
CEAPP director Luis Ramírez Baqueiro confirmed to CPJ via phone call that Castro was assigned protective measures after an altercation with a municipal police officer in April 2024. The measures expired after Castro left Veracruz in October 2024. Upon Castro’s return to Poza Rica in late 2025 the protective measures had not been re-activated after the journalist ended contact with the agency, according to Ramírez Baqueiro.
CPJ’s phone calls to the Veracruz state attorney general’s office (FGJE) and the Poza Rica municipal police for more information about the investigation into Castro’s death were not answered.