Armed Individuals Kidnap Journalist in Mexico

27-year-old reporter Ricardo Villanueva was kidnapped by armed individuals, and his whereabouts remain unknown, according to his colleagues. This was reported by РИА Новости.

“Journalist Ricardo Villanueva has not been heard from 15 hours after his kidnapping. Armed men wearing masks seized our police chronicle correspondent while he was repairing his motorcycle at a workshop on Agricultura Street in the Lazaro Cardenas neighborhood,” stated a message published on the newspaper's Facebook page.

According to the media outlet, the regional police have organized search efforts, conducting round-the-clock checks of vehicles on key roads.

The kidnapped individual's father, Jesus Villanueva, told reporters that his son had received a warning from local police just before the kidnapping that he could be abducted.

According to Articulo 19, 12 journalists were killed in Mexico in 2022, matching a record number set in 2017. In four years, 37 employees of various news outlets have been killed.