Mexico arrests alleged mastermind of journalist murder

Mexican authorities have arrested a suspected drug dealer accused of plotting the murder of a photojournalist in the northern border city of Tijuana in January, the government said on Thursday.

The killing of Margarito Martinez – and days later the killing of a second journalist in Tijuana – sparked international condemnation and called on the government to step up protections for media workers.

The suspect, identified as “David N.”, was arrested Wednesday along with two other people in the city of Apodaca in northern Nuevo Leon state, Deputy Security Minister Ricardo Mejia told reporters.

He is the “alleged intellectual author of Margarito’s murder” and head of a cell of the once-powerful Arellano Felix drug cartel, Mejia told reporters without revealing the suspected motive.

Remnants of the same cartel are also accused of murdering reporter Lourdes Maldonado less than a week later for complaining about drug trafficking in her Tijuana neighborhood.

According to the government, 13 journalists were killed in Mexico in 2022 – already one of the deadliest years for the country’s press.

The media rights authority Reporters Without Borders (RSF) puts the number at 14 – at least 10 of them they believe were killed because of their work.

Since 2000, more than 150 media workers have been murdered in the Latin American country, which according to the RSF is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.