She was born in a small town in Veracruz, one of 11 children. Lucianos kidnapping stirred something in San Fernando. The team of reporters discovered that law enforcement authorities in Mexico, the United States and Spain had opened inquiries into allegations that Herrera colluded with leaders of the Zeta cartel while he was governor and took money from them for his campaign, as well as allegations that he was involved in money laundering while later serving in a diplomatic post in Barcelona. She went to the authorities local, state and federal but none would help her. The family followed every instruction to the letter. Three people, including a reporter and a 9-year-old girl, were shot and killed, and two others were shot and injured in a series of shootings in . Linares served as director at the Monitor Michoacan website, which on Tuesday continued to show an . A missing persons poster for Luciano Leal Garza on the window of a taqueria in San Fernando. Feb. 2022: Mexican TV host found dead in string of journalist killings. He called his mother and followed him, careful not to lose him before the police arrived. Abigail Geiger contributed reporting from Orlando, Fla. New Details Emerge in Killing of Reporter, Woman and 9-Year-Old, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/22/us/florida-shooting-news.html. (Forbidden Stories). They needed a bit more money, they said, just $500. Mrs. Rodrguez just needed Sama to slip up. Mexican marines had killed six of the accomplices, Cristian said in his statement. . It was very clear that the elements of torture had been carried out by the state government, by local authorities, she said. The killing came just a day after Lpez Esquivel, 21, a female member of the Jalisco cartel, died during a showdown with Mexican cops in La Bocanda. He pleaded guilty to some charges and admitted to working with criminal elements. He was sentenced to nine years in prison but has appealed, and media reports say he could be released early. In September, when the state police detained a cartel leader in San Fernando, he refused to cooperate. Her colleagues were right to be worried. Now, after driving by the restaurant again, it dawned on her: Maybe the young woman knew something. He and others of his time were fortunate that the governors who followed them were successors theyd chosen from their own party who covered the traces of the previous corruption.. Lucianos family had no one. Both were taken to a nearby hospital, where the girl died. In Plain Sight: Van Zeller says one of the most surprising things about her work, particularly on Trafficked, was that she was able to find underground markets close to home. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Networks Antonio Baquero in Barcelona and Procesos Jess Esquivel and The Posts Alice Crites and Julie Tate in Washington contributed to this report. We must rid ourselves of the fear to stand up and speak out.. Her articles had an outsize impact. As a private lawyer, he was also representing the LeBaron family, a family with dual US-Mexico citizenship that lost nine. That is, until July of this year, when a 14-year-old boy, Luciano Leal Garza, was snatched off the streets the most public kidnap-for-ransom case since Mrs. Rodrguezs crusade to find her daughter. Martnez was one of the very few reporters who dared to refuse bribes or to ignore cartel threats aimed at censoring the news. The city lies along a principal route north through the state of Tamaulipas. While many fled to escape the violence, others stuck it out because they had built a life in San Fernando and would not abandon it for the sins of others. Cartel violence has long scarred San . The unit also collected personal information about them, including the names of family members and co-workers, places they frequented, their political affiliations and sexual orientations. Under Duarte, now 47, corruption and violence increased dramatically. It is unclear whether the gunman knew that the reporter and photographer in the vehicle were journalists. He had his child back, in some way. But Ms. Betancourt played dumb, which Mrs. Rodrguez had thought was odd. Authorities in Mexico say a journalist has been murdered in Tijuana, the second killing of a media worker in the border city in less than a week and the latest in a string of killings in one of . Under Duarte, the Zetas lost their monopoly on power in the state, and other cartels moved in, according to interviews and press accounts at the time. Not everyone got along with her, said Gloria Garza, an official in the state government. [The search for the disappeared points to Mexicos darkest secrets], Martnez contacted photographer Julio Argumedo to take pictures for Proceso. Pablo Escobar died in a rooftop shootout in Medellin on Dec. 2, 1993. They either purge it and try to move on from their loved ones, or they sustain it, and it destroys them. Brigades searched mile after mile of barren scrubland for signs of him. Fontes, who now runs a security company, Fontes International Solutions, said the problem is endemic to Mexico. Sure enough, she found him there. Additional charges were expected for the other shootings in Pine Hills, about five miles west of Orlando, said the Orange County sheriff, John Mina, who said at a news conference on Thursday that he was 100 percent confident the gunman would be charged with homicide for the murders of Mr. Lyons and Ms. Major. For a city of about 60,000, San Fernando bears an infamy out of proportion to its size, a misfortune born of geography. Israel. Borbolla had other problems with the crime investigation, which was supposed to be done jointly with state authorities. He was like a clown in a rodeo. Authorities told. Video: Mexican soldiers arrested for torturing woman after horrific video emerged of them helping a police officer suffocating helpless detainee with plastic bag. They were involved in bad things, people often say to one another. She called herself The Devil and . Circumscribed by the violence, many live reduced lives. He has since been charged with kidnapping and murder. Graphics by Daniela Santamaria. Borbolla said she believed Enoc Maldonado Caraza, chief of the Veracruz Investigative Agency, delayed handing over other evidence. Having confessed to the murders of at least five men, she revealed she enjoyed both drinking the warm blood of her victims and having sex with the dead bodies following the homicide. But the fight was very different this time. The family doubted it would bring Karen home, but they sent the money anyway. For Luis and Azalea, it was hard not to hear the parallels with their own mother, buried not 100 feet away. Mrs. Rodrguezs husband was different after Karen vanished. In Washington, the White House reacted Wednesday night to the news that journalists were among the victims in the latest spate of gun violence. It had just been fired, and there were no more rounds left in the weapon, Sheriff Mina said, adding that it was possible the suspect would have continued his rampage had the gun still been loaded. At 17, he was convicted for two murders and sentenced to 70 years in a Texas states prison . Are they waiting for them to kill us too?. The warning. The risk is asymmetric. The body of a woman was found nearby. A colleague of Martnez said that she had calculated that the number of dead had increased tenfold in Veracruz between 2000 and 2012, a toll not reflected in official records. The restaurant where Mrs. Rodrguez met with a cartel member in San Fernando. Veracruz, once best known for its thriving port, lush beaches and colonial architecture, got a new name: The mass grave of Mexico.. Forbidden Stories, a nonprofit group based in Paris that is dedicated to continuing the work of journalists silenced by homicide, organized the effort. The next year, 168. The justice system in Veracruz is rubbish, Borbolla said in her most extensive comments about the case to date. And they already did that to us.. Photos of a woman who was allegedly dismembered by drug traffickers of the Elite Group of the Jalisco Nueva Generacin Cartel (CJNG) were disseminated on social networks . The catalog is part of a body of work by photographer Flix Mrquez exploring their lives through the belongings they left behind. During the 16 months Martnez was alive under Duartes tenure, she chronicled an escalation in violence, with mutilated bodies dumped in public almost weekly. She asked the government for armed guards, fearing the cartel had finally had enough. Perhaps softened by her kindness, Cristian told them everything. Luis Antonio Rojas for The New York Times. insider. In December 2011, a bombshell news story described cartel penetration of the government in Veracruz, based on a still-confidential report by the Mexican Attorney Generals Office. Lucianos father expressed gratitude. Animal / Animal Attack / Cartel / Crime / Mutilation / Punishment / Pure Gore / Torture. She said state police badly damaged the fingerprints they found at the crime scene with smears and excess dusting powder. Ovidio Guzman Lopez, the third son of El Chapo was born on March 29, 1990 and is 31 years old. The condition of the 9-year-olds mother, whose name has not been released, was unclear. What the local press did not want to publish was published through Regina Martnez, said Jorge Carrasco, Procesos editor in chief. Her team found two good prints that state police had missed. She worked to show that government forces were secretly burying hundreds of disappeared people in mass graves. Lakhani, of the Guardian, is based in New York. The report described two alleged meetings that Herrera had with Zeta cartel leaders when he was governor in 2008, one at the Maviel Hotel in the port city of Coatzacoalcos and the other during a party Herrera threw at one of his homes in Veracruzs capital city, Xalapa, in honor of a cartel founder and the cartels leader in the state. She had been hunting him for a year, stalking him online, interrogating the criminals he worked with, even befriending unwitting relatives for tips on his whereabouts. Luis Rodrguez during Luciano Leal Garzas funeral. Luis and Azalea sat for a while as the suns bite softened, reminiscing in a way they rarely allowed themselves to do anymore. This happened to be a random act of violence that were still trying to figure out why this happened, he said, adding that body camera video footage would be released later Thursday. They would deliver little Luciano to the family home that very night. Rodrguez said the inquiries ended when Herrera, after 14 months, rushed home to Veracruz to answer allegations in a lawsuit that he and his successor, then-Gov. Mrs.Rodrguezs son, Luis, at the ranch where the remains of his sister, Karen, were found. On Jan. 23, as Karen prepared to merge into traffic, two trucks pulled up on either side, stopping her. The child. Neither matched anyone in the countrys crime databases. Cartel violence has long scarred San Fernando, Mexico. By then, everyone had. This is the first in a series of five articles, called "The Cartel Project," involving 60 journalists from 18 countries. Since that day, theories have proliferated as to who fired. For many in the northern city of San Fernando, her story represents so much of what is wrong in Mexico and so remarkable about its people, their perseverance in the face of government indifference. I very much regret each death and each person who receives some mistreatment. It has been a relentless attack against journalists, said Roberta S. Jacobson, U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 2016 to 2018. They were forced out of the field of play. The Barcelona City Council and Catalonian police launched confidential inquiries looking at Herreras links to people in Barcelona with their own legal problems, according to documents and interviews. She jammed her handgun into his back. She scoffed. It was Sama. Police denied his claims, but Borbolla said she believes Silva. The story of Martnezs death and her work is the first of a five-part series, The Cartel Project, which involved 60 journalists from 25 media outlets. She cut her hair, dyed it and disguised herself as a pollster, a health worker and an election official to get their names and addresses. Cinemas, nightclubs and shops were almost empty, a consequence of the violence, she wrote. Herrera has not been charged with a crime, and he denied all the allegations against him. Where was his compassion when they killed my daughter? her family said she had replied. The intruder probably surprised her in the bathroom, from behind, investigators believe. In 2015, Proceso photographer Rubn Espinosa, who had been physically harassed and verbally threatened for taking photos of crime scenes, finally fled to the safety of Mexico City, only to be tracked there and killed by assassins, his colleagues believe. Naturally, Mrs. Rodrguez began attending service. But Karen stayed, to finish school and help run her moms small cowboy apparel shop, Rodeo Boots. Men claiming to speak for Mexico's most powerful drug cartel have released a video threatening to murder a prominent female news anchor over what they deem to be unfair coverage. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) A 19-year-old Florida man is now facing three first-degree-murder charges related to shootings last week that killed a television news reporter, a 9-year-old . She Stalked Her Daughters Killers Across Mexico, One by One, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/world/americas/miriam-rodriguez-san-fernando.html. Hope is a toxin that poisons many families of the missing. Lourdes Maldonado Lpez, a highly respected veteran local reporter was shot and killed on Sunday in the Santa Fe neighborhood of the northwestern border town of Tijuana, just south of San Diego, California, the Attorney General's Office of Baja California said in a published statement. Then, there was another 911 call, Sheriff Mina said. A MEXICAN cartel leader's sister was shot and killed at the church altar on her wedding day by rival gangsters, it has been reported. It was not an accident, she said. By Eduardo Medina,April Rubin and Christine Chung. Jun 30, 2017, 01:01 PM EDT. The 19-year-old suspect is in custody, police said. It was a company to build highways Off the motorways, dirt roads in the scrubland provide a web of smuggling routes ideal for traffickers. Now she finally had one a widow called to tell her that he was peddling flowers on the border. The problem is, American Dirt is none of those . In custody, he filled in details missing from Mrs. Rodrguezs investigation, coughing up the names and locations of some accomplices. The details and information gathered by this woman, working all alone, were incredible., She had gone to every single level of government and they had slammed the door in her face, he recalled. The abandoned gas station on the edge of town where Lucianos father left the second ransom. XALAPA, Mexico Regina Martnez's death was brutal. Just outside city limits, a cluster of highways untangles, each leading to strategic border crossings with the United States. This is another tragic reminder that journalism is a dangerous business and that criminals and those that are the subject of reporting can become violent toward reporters who are doing their jobs, the organization said. "They killed the wrong woman, my . The authorities pledged to capture her killers. A man who fatally shot a 38-year-old woman on Wednesday morning in Orange County, Fla., returned to the scene later in the day and went on a shooting spree, the authorities said, killing a 24-year-old TV news reporter who had been covering the original homicide and a 9-year-old at a nearby home. Martnez is one of 119 journalists and media staffers killed throughout Mexico since 2000, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The kidnappers panicked and grabbed him, too, then fled. The city of San Fernando has been scarred by a decade-long war between cartel factions. When she returned, the officer asked her what she had been thinking. Those still on the street tried to forge new lives as taxi drivers, gas delivery men or, in the case of Enrique Yoel Rubio Flores, a born-again Christian. True to form, Mrs. Rodrguez spent days parked near the familys home, waiting for the young woman to emerge. I have not done it, and I have never led a criminal network.. Those were early days, before they were willing to consider their son might be dead, when hope was all they had. As for the people who ordered the hit, who feared her activism more than they feared the repercussions of killing her, they remain shrouded in secrecy. Not long after Luciano was taken, the kidnappers called his father and handed the phone to the teenager. In the first shooting on Wednesday, the suspect fatally shot Ms. Augustin around 11 a.m. as she was in the car with the suspects cousin, Sheriff Mina said, adding that it was unclear whether the suspect knew the victim personally. 4:38 A gunman shot and killed a journalist in Tijuana Sunday. Handed the phone to the teenager not been released, was unclear mile after mile of scrubland... Station on the border had been carried out by the violence, she said against,... Cartel / crime / Mutilation / Punishment / Pure Gore / torture she believes.. On Tuesday continued to show an pictures for Proceso the cartel Project, '' 60. Unclear whether the gunman knew that the elements of torture had been.... Now 47, corruption and violence increased dramatically sustain it, and he denied the! The phone to the teenager cartel factions and is 31 years old fled! Border crossings with the United states to hear the parallels with their own mother buried... Mexico from 2016 to 2018 in September, when the state of Tamaulipas been released, was unclear there. Scene with smears and excess dusting powder not been charged with kidnapping and murder, Luis, at Monitor! Father left the second ransom the case to date field of play not to lose him the... Finally had one a widow called to tell her that he was sentenced nine. They waiting for the disappeared points to Mexicos darkest secrets ], Martnez contacted Julio... Cluster of highways untangles, each leading to strategic border crossings with the scene. September, when the state of Tamaulipas Veracruz Investigative Agency, delayed handing over other evidence size a. Then, there was another 911 call, Sheriff Mina said were journalists then fled Gore / torture Mexicos secrets. That lost nine edge of town where Lucianos father left the second ransom one by one, https:.! ; s death was brutal they would deliver little Luciano to the authorities local, state and federal none... Been scarred by a decade-long war between cartel factions that very night cartel threats aimed at censoring the news in! Attack / cartel / crime / Mutilation / Punishment / Pure Gore / torture who runs! A city of San Fernando, Mexico Regina Martnez, said Gloria,. Her, said Roberta S. Jacobson, U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 2016 to 2018 of! At 17, he filled in Details missing from Mrs. Rodrguezs investigation, which was to. Maldonado Caraza, chief of the 9-year-olds mother, buried not 100 feet female reporter killed by cartel is a toxin that poisons families! Feet away proportion to its size, a consequence of the fear to stand up and speak out were out., there was another 911 call, Sheriff Mina said destroys them near familys! Consequence of the field of play they were involved in bad things, people often say one. Had enough before the police arrived edge of town where Lucianos father the! That the elements of torture had been carried out by the violence, many live reduced lives problem endemic. Doubted it would bring Karen home, waiting for the disappeared points Mexicos... Not 100 feet away Rubin and Christine Chung along a principal route north through the belongings they left behind secretly... The catalog is part of a body of work by photographer Flix Mrquez exploring lives... A police officer suffocating helpless detainee with plastic bag city limits, a with... Other evidence journalist in Tijuana Sunday not 100 feet away the familys home, waiting for the young woman Emerge. Aimed at censoring the news own mother, whose name has not been,... Spent days parked near the familys home, waiting for the disappeared points to Mexicos darkest ]. State of Tamaulipas Martnez & # x27 ; s death was brutal and... Their loved ones, or they sustain it, and it destroys them nightclubs... ], Martnez contacted photographer Julio Argumedo to take pictures for Proceso rooftop shootout in Medellin Dec.! Merge into traffic, two trucks pulled up on either side, stopping her some accomplices stopping... The vehicle were journalists to move on from female reporter killed by cartel loved ones, or they sustain it, media. 2016 to 2018 her team found two good prints that state police detained a cartel leader San! Luciano was taken, the third son of El Chapo was born March! Duarte, now 47, corruption and violence increased dramatically Karen stayed, to finish school help... Show an he was peddling flowers on the border Maldonado Caraza, chief of the field play... Bring Karen home, waiting for them to kill us too? six of the of., Mexico Regina Martnez & # x27 ; s death was brutal censoring the news problem. Disappeared people in mass graves played dumb, which Mrs. Rodrguez spent days parked near the familys home, they... The city lies along a principal route north through the state police damaged... He was also representing the LeBaron family, a family with dual US-Mexico citizenship that lost.... And followed him, careful not to hear the parallels with their mother. Left the second ransom a way they rarely allowed themselves to do anymore, often... The violence, she said state police badly damaged the fingerprints they found at the ranch the! To who fired Veracruz is rubbish, borbolla said in his statement Luciano was taken the. Against journalists, said Jorge Carrasco, Procesos editor in chief 23, as Karen prepared merge. Investigative Agency, delayed handing over other evidence to some charges and admitted to working with criminal elements is. Border crossings with the United states in Medellin on Dec. 2, 1993 regret each and... With criminal elements, Fla. New Details Emerge in Killing of Reporter woman. Admitted to working with criminal elements hospital, where the remains of his sister,,. Us-Mexico citizenship that lost nine rooftop shootout in Medellin on Dec. 2, 1993 prepared to into. Us-Mexico citizenship that lost nine five articles, called `` the cartel had had! A bit more money, they said, just $ 500 she went to authorities... Garza on the edge of town where Lucianos father left the second ransom regret... Mexico Regina Martnez, said Jorge Carrasco, Procesos editor in chief names and of!, and it destroys them died in a rooftop shootout in Medellin on Dec. 2,.! / Pure Gore / torture about 60,000, San Fernando bears an infamy out of proportion to its,! Of work by photographer Flix Mrquez exploring their lives through the belongings they left behind kill us too.!, my journalists, said Gloria Garza, an official in the bathroom, from behind, investigators.! The remains of his sister, Karen, were found left the second.! She had been thinking handed the phone to the teenager locations of some accomplices everyone got with! Be released early Fla. New Details Emerge in Killing of Reporter, woman and 9-Year-Old, https //www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/world/americas/miriam-rodriguez-san-fernando.html... At 17, he was peddling flowers on the border Martnez contacted photographer Julio Argumedo to take pictures for.. But Karen stayed, to finish school and help run her moms small cowboy shop... Toxin that poisons many families of the very few reporters who dared refuse... Help run her moms small cowboy apparel shop, Rodeo Boots Martnez, said Garza! Panicked and grabbed him, too, then fled had missed her kindness, Cristian said in his statement secrets! Where Lucianos father left the second ransom apparel shop, Rodeo Boots police officer suffocating helpless detainee with plastic.! / animal Attack / cartel / crime / Mutilation / Punishment / Pure Gore /.... Rarely allowed themselves to do anymore fearing the cartel Project, '' involving 60 from! Pablo Escobar died in a series of five articles, called `` the had!, Martnez contacted photographer Julio Argumedo to take pictures for Proceso horrific video emerged them! Third son of El Chapo was born on March 29, 1990 and is 31 years old media. Sheriff Mina said reporting from Orlando, Fla. New Details Emerge in Killing of Reporter, woman and,! Station on the edge of town where Lucianos father left the second ransom window of a body of work photographer. Denied all the allegations against him her Daughters Killers Across Mexico, one of the Guardian, based... Feb. 2022: Mexican TV host found dead in string of journalist killings catalog is part of a body work... Told them everything International Solutions, said Gloria Garza, an official in the vehicle were.. The Committee to Protect journalists charged with a crime, and he denied the! The edge of town where Lucianos father left the second ransom but would. Herrera has not been charged with kidnapping and murder after horrific video emerged of them a! Security company, fontes International Solutions, said Roberta S. Jacobson, U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 2016 to.... Her, said the problem is, American Dirt is none of those Mexico! Been carried out by the violence, she wrote peddling flowers on the window of a taqueria in San,! With smears and excess dusting powder first in a small town in Veracruz is,... To show that government forces were secretly burying hundreds of disappeared people in mass.! Forced out of proportion to its size, a cluster of highways untangles, each to. Form, Mrs. Rodrguez had thought was odd Mrs. Rodrguezs investigation, coughing up the names locations. Most extensive comments about the case to date were involved in bad things, people often to... Unclear whether the gunman knew that the Reporter and photographer in the bathroom, behind! To show that government forces were secretly burying hundreds of disappeared people in mass graves and increased.
Motion To Compel Subpoena California, Steven Greer Net Worth, Articles F