Mexican authorities formally charged a leading figure with the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas for the murder of a respected journalist in the border state of Tamaulipas. Authorities believe the journalist was murdered for his work covering crime in the region. The charges come a year after the murder and are part of a larger investigation into the criminal organization’s shootings, kidnappings, and murders in the region.
This week, Mexico’s Attorney General’s office revealed at a court hearing they formally charged Rafael Santiago Arano Rodriguez on murder charges for the 2022 killing of journalist Antonio De La Cruz and his daughter Cinthya. De La Cruz was a respected journalist in El Expreso newspaper in Ciudad Victoria and had carried out several investigations into organized crime and corruption. He had not been the target of threats prior to his murder.
Arano Rodriguez has been in custody since January when state authorities arrested him in connection with other cartel-connected charges.
During the hearing, an unnamed judge received 109 pieces of evidence linking Arano Rodriguez to De La Cruz’s murder. The judge ordered that he be held without bond pending another hearing in four months. Arano Rodriguez remains in custody at a prison in the border city of Nuevo Laredo.
At the time of Arano Rodriguez’s initial arrest, authorities found a cell phone with a message allegedly linking the crime boss to the murder.
As Breitbart Texas reported, on June 29, 2022, a group of gunmen in a motorcycle pulled up to De La Cruz’s home and shot at him as he was about to drive his daughter Cinthya to work. De La Cruz died at the scene. His daughter died soon after.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “Francisco Morales” from Tamaulipas.