A newspaper in Mexico that reports on the raging cartel violence in the state of Sinaloa became the target of its gunmen. In two days, gunmen carried out a shooting attack on its main building and then, the following day, kidnapped one of its delivery men.
The incidents took place in Culiacan, Sinaloa, where a group of gunmen attacked and then kidnapped Sergio Cardenas Hernandez, a delivery driver for El Debate newspaper. The delivery driver remains missing. The kidnapping comes one day after, as Breitbart Texas reported, gunmen carried out a shooting attack outside their main building.
The violence against El Debate comes at a time when international press freedom organizations continue to label Mexico as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.
While Mexico’s government issued a slew of promises after the attack about providing security to the newspaper and helping improve the violence in Sinaloa, on Saturday morning, a group of gunmen kidnapped Cardenas as he was leaving his workplace.
According to El Debate, 48 hours after the attacks began, authorities have been unable to provide any answers or locate their driver. A motive for the attacks remains unknown. However, the publication is one of the few that has been consistently publishing information about a fierce ongoing turf war between rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel that has led to numerous shootouts, a large number of killings, and forced disappearances.
As Breitbart Texas reported, the violence in Sinaloa is tied to the July 25 capture of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a top leader within the Sinaloa Cartel. The capture is attributed to Zambada’s Godson Joaquin Guzman Lopez, who had called a meeting with top Mexican politicians but then captured Zambada, placed him inside an airplane, and had him flown to a U.S. airport where authorities were waiting for him. Since then, the faction loyal to Zambada has been at war with the faction loyal to Guzman, known as Los Chapitos.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.