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Javier Valdez, a veteran reporter who specialized in covering drug trafficking and organized crime, was slain Monday in the northern Mexico state of Sinaloa, the latest in a wave of journalist killings in one of the world's most dangerous countries for media workers. Valdez's killing on Monday makes him at least the fifth journalist to be murdered in Mexico in just over two months, and the second high-profile reporter to be slain in the country over the past few years after Regina Martinez Perez, who was found strangled in her home in 2012. Valdez was shot to death in the early afternoon in the state capital of Culiacan, near the offices of the publication he co-founded, Riodoce, which reported that Valdez was driving about a block from its offices when he was intercepted by gunmen. The publication reported that Valdez was leaving the publication's office in broad daylight when the shooting occurred only a block away from the office. The recent spate of journalist slayings in Mexico includes Miroslava Breach, correspondent for La Jornada in the northern state of Chihuahua, who was gunned down in March. Valdez was a nationally and internationally recognized journalist who authored several books on the drug trade, including “Narcoperiodismo” and “Los Morros del Narco.” The former is a look at the relationship between journalism and organized crime, and the latter chronicles the lives of young people swept up in Mexico’s criminal underworld. Jan-Albert Hootson, Mexico representative for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said Valdez and Riodoce were known as a rare source of independent, investigative journalism in Sinaloa. No one was hurt. "The Committee to Protect Journalists honoured Javier Valdez Cárdenas with an International Press Freedom Award in 2011 to recognise his bravery and uncompromising journalism in the face of threats," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “We learned how to live in times when bullets are flying around us.”

Sinaloa state has long been a drug trafficking hotbed and is home to the Sinaloa Cartel headed by notorious kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is in a New York prison awaiting trial on multiple charges. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 40 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 1992 for reasons related to their work. An additional 50 were slain during the same period under circumstances that have not been clarified. Valdez was recognized with the International Press Freedom Award in 2011 by CPJ, which released a report this month warning that widespread impunity leaves journalists vulnerable to attacks in Mexico. Last Wednesday, the federal Attorney General's Office replaced the head of its division responsible for investigating journalist killings. State Prosecutor Juan Jose Rios visited the scene and said authorities were investigating all possible motives, including that the killing could have been due to Valdez's work, though he gave no details. President Enrique Pena Nieto condemned what he called an “outrageous crime.”

“I reiterate our commitment to freedom of expression and the press, fundamental for our democracy,” he tweeted.
An unknown gunman shoots and kills veteran journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas, who is noted for his investigative reporting on Mexico's war on drugs, in Culiacán, Sinaloa.