Mexican drug cartel threatens bloggers and website owners

Jon Lockton
September 16, 2011

Two young victims of the drug war have been found hanging from a bridge in Mexico. The victims were found with signs hanging from their necks warning social media users, bloggers and websites to stop reporting violence linked to the cartels. Along with politicians and law enforcement, journalists and now social media users are under attack for covering incidents involving Mexico’s drug cartels.

The corpses were found dangling over a pedestrian walkway in the town of Nuevo Laredo near the US border. The bodies showed signs of struggle and torture, an official from the state prosecutor’s office said.

The signs had a signature on them, a “Z”, a reference to a notorious drug gang in the area called the Zetas. The Zetas are the former paramilitary-wing of the Gulf Cartel. The victims have not been identified thus far, but sources say they were between the ages of 20 and 25.

Two popular websites which cover the Mexico drug war, Blog del Narco and Frontera al Rojo Vivo, were threatened on the signs.

The Rojo Vivo site, which is managed by the newspaper El Norte, removed all of its contributor information and archives after the incident occurred, which makes one speculate the intimidation tactic of the cartel worked. “From now on we will only publish specific facts and information about border communities, no more personal attacks,” a notice on the site stated.

Police investigators claim the victims were not journalists but people from the local community who used social media to denounce crimes.

The message is clear, if you try to denounce organized crimes members who commit violent acts, you could become the next victim.

The deaths have sent a wave of fear across social networks in Mexico. In fact, many news organizations no longer cover the violence related to the drug cartels. Due to drug-related violence in Mexico, the country is now one of the world’s most dangerous places for the press to visit.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says the problem is that drug traffickers often target the local media and try to suppress coverage. In fact, the group claims at least 42 local reporters have been killed over the last five years.

Over 42,000 people have died in Mexico’s drug wars since 2006. Now, the president has deployed the Mexican military onto the streets to fight the brutal cartels.