Suspect arrested in killing of crusading Mexican journalist Javier Valdez: minister

Mexican authorities arrested a suspect in the killing of internationally recognised journalist Javier Valdez on Monday night, Interior Secretary Alfonso Navarrete Prida said.

Navarrete said via Twitter late in the evening that federal agents in a joint operation had just arrested the “presumed (person) responsible for the killing,” but provided no details.

Valdez was gunned down in a street in Culiacan in the western state of Sinaloa on May 15, 2017.

He was known outside Mexico for his deeply nuanced books about the intersection of drug cartels, politicians and other segments of society. Inside Mexico, he was respected as a veteran journalist who generously shared his knowledge and kept readers informed with a regular column in Riodoce, a publication he helped found.

His killing led to a resounding outcry, but the killings of Mexican journalists have continued. At least 10 journalists, including Valdez, were killed in 2017.

Isamel Bojorquez, Riodoce’s editor and a friend of Valdez, confirmed the news. He said the suspect was arrested in the border city of Tijuana and was a member of an organised crime group. He declined to say which one, but said it had to do with the war that the Sinaloa cartel is in.