The mastermind accused of journalist’s murder is wanted in Mexico – but the US has labeled him a ‘protected witness’

Mexico has asked the United States to extradite the suspected mastermind of the attack Journalist Javier Valdez is killed After he was arrested on drug charges, the prosecutor said.

Damaso Lopez Serrano – Who does the Ministry of Justice say he is? Known as “Mini Lake” – Accused of ordering the 2017 murder of Valdez, an award-winning journalist and AFP contributor who covered the drug trade.

The alleged former high-ranking member of Sinaloa Cartel He was arrested Friday in Virginia on charges of trafficking fentanyl. Lopez Serrano’s son Damaso Lopez NunezWho began the struggle to control the cartel after the arrest of its leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Lopez described Serrano as the “mastermind” behind Valdez’s killing.

“We have already brought the rest of the perpetrators to trial and they are in prison,” he added in a press conference.

Valdez was shot dead in his car on May 15, 2017 in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, near the offices of his weekly newspaper Rioduchi.

Investigators believe Lopez Serrano ordered the hit because he was angry about information Valdez released about internal power struggles in the Sinaloa Cartel.

Mexico has made several extradition requests for Lopez Serrano, who surrendered to U.S. authorities in July 2017 on drug trafficking charges and cooperated in exchange for a reduced sentence. At that time, the United States The Drug Enforcement Administration said López Serrano was believed to be the highest-ranking Mexican cartel leader ever to surrender in the United States.

He was released from prison on conditions in 2022.

Gertz said Mexico had requested “on countless occasions” the extradition of Lopez Serrano, but Washington refused because he had become a “protected witness” and “was providing them with a lot of information.”

He expressed hope that with Lopez Serrano’s recent arrest “there are more than enough reasons” for the United States to finally agree to Mexico’s request.

Mexico, which suffers from violence related to the drug trade, is one of the countries in the world The most dangerous countries for journalistsNews advocacy groups say.

Reporters Without Borders says more than 150 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 1994 – with 2022 being one of the years. The bloodiest years ever told reporters in Mexico, where at least 15 people were killed.

Media workers are They are regularly targeted in Mexicooften in direct retaliation for their work covering topics such as corruption and violent drug traffickers in the country.

The last one is in October, Armed men kill a journalist His Facebook news page covered the violent state of Michoacán in western Mexico. Less than 24 hours later, an entertainment reporter arrived in the western city of Colima He was killed inside a restaurant She had it.