State Police Commander in Mexico Arrested in Connection with Journalist’s Murder

Mexican authorities arrested one of their own in connection to the 2019 murder of a journalist. The journalist reported on police corruption in the state of Tabasco. He reportedly looked into the corrupt high ranking officers tied to an extortion racket.

This week, authorities in Mexico arrested a man identified only as Uriel “N” — a commander with the State Ministerial Police in Tabasco. According to Mexico’s El Heraldo de Tabasco Uriel’s arrest is tied to an ongoing murder investigation where he is the alleged mastermind in retaliation for the journalist’s investigations into his conduct.

As Breitbart Texas reported, Norma Sarabia, a journalist with Tabasco Hoy, died on June 11 after a group of gunmen pulled up to her house and shot her as she was standing outside talking to a relative. Sarabia covered crime-related stories for more than 15 years.

According to El Heraldo de Tabasco, Sarabia had been investigating Uriel and others over an extortion racket. The cops allegedly took significant payments from a father whose sons were being held in connection with an accidental death. Sarabia was preparing to expose the group that included Uriel, a psychologist, another police officer, and others. She reportedly met with them to confront them on the day of her death. According to El Heraldo de Tabasco, Uriel is the conspiracy mastermind and ordered the hit on the journalist to avoid being exposed at the time.

The arrest comes as Mexico continues to be labeled as one of the most dangerous places for journalists due to the high rate of impunity in crimes against them. In 2019, there were at least 12 journalists murdered in Mexico. There are have been at least nine murdered journalists so far this year.

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.