Los Zetas Cartel Boss Arrested for Murder of Mexican Journalist Near U.S.-Mexico Border

A Los Zetas cartel regional boss was arrested in Mexico's border state of Coahuila for allegedly ordering the murder of a Mexican journalist in 2021.

According to Breitbart, authorities arrested Raymundo "N.," 27, at a bus station in Ramos Arizpe town, Coahuila on Monday night after investigators tracked him down.

State authorities said Raymundo is a regional boss of the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN), a faction of the Los Zetas cartel.

Officials identified Raymundo as the mastermind behind the murder of Saul Tijerina at Ciudad Acuna in Coahuila in June 2021. Raymundo was reportedly the CDN's regional boss in the city at the time.

Tijerina, an online news video and photojournalist covering crime in north Coahuila, has been stabbed in the neck, and his body was discovered on a road next to his vehicle.

Investigators also found a poster board with a message that cited his work as justification for his death. It also contained a threatening message.

The Eighth Mexican Journalist Killed in Mexico

The body of Juan Carlos Muñiz was found with multiple gunshot wounds inside a taxi in Fresnillo, Zacatecas last Friday.

Muñiz was a reporter for the Fresnillo news website Testigo Minero and other local outlets. He also made a living as a taxi driver. Mexico News Daily reported that Muñiz is the eighth Mexican journalist killed in the country this year.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based non-government organization, has condemned the federal government's response to Muñiz's murder. According to CPJ, the Zacatecas state prosecutor's office has already opened an investigation into Muñiz's murder and enforced special protocols used for attacks on press members.

However, the group said authorities must quickly investigate the case to determine whether the journalist was killed because of his profession.

CPJ Mexico representative Jan-Albert Hootsen said the "brutal slaying" of Muñiz extended the country's "staggering streak of journalist killings in 2022."

He noted that the killing was a clear example of the "extreme risks that local reporters" covering politics and crimes face every day.

Hootsen added that the government's inaction allows the impunity that fuels these attacks against journalists in Mexico to "fester and cement" its status as the deadliest country for journalists.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has also been accused of instigating hostility toward journalists and the media via his repeated verbal attacks on critical press during his news conferences.

However, Lopez Obrador said the criticisms against him, especially on journalist killings, were part of a campaign to undermine his administration and a "soft coup" by media firms, U.S. News reported.

He noted that it was no longer the traditional military coup but a "soft coup with the power of the media that generally controls public opinion."

International press freedom groups have already labeled Mexico the most dangerous place for journalists outside an official war zone, with many crimes going unpunished.

According to human rights organization Article 19, around 145 journalists were killed in Mexico from 2000 to 2021. The worst year was 2017, with 12 murders, followed by 2010, with 10.

The Los Zetas Cartel in Mexico

The Los Zetas cartel started as the enforcement arm of drug-trafficking Gulf Cartel and had broken away as an independent criminal enterprise in 2010.

According to Britannica, the Los Zetas cartel is known for its violent tactics and strong organizational structure. Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the former leader of the Gulf Cartel, recruited about 30 former members of Mexico's special forces led by Lieutenant Arturo Guzman Decena. This group formed the core of the Los Zetas cartel.

After Cardenas Guillen's arrest in 2003, the Los Zetas cartel became more directly involved in the drug business. The Mexican drug cartel played a major role in beating back the attempt by the Sinaloa Cartel to seize the control of Nuevo Laredo between 2005 and 2006.

The Los Zetas cartel has eventually expanded its operations to arms trafficking, kidnapping, smuggling people, and extortion.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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