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Adrián Silva Moreno

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Adrián Silva Moreno
Born26 August 1978
Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico
Died14 November 2012 (aged 34)
Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico
Cause of deathGunshot wounds
Known forInvestigative journalism

Adrián Silva Moreno (26 August 1978 – 14 November 2012) was a Mexican freelance journalist and collaborative crime reporter for several media outlets in the state of Puebla in central Mexico.

In his last report, Silva Moreno covered an oil theft investigation and a gunfight where organized crime was involved, but was later killed by gunfire when unidentified gunmen tracked him down and shot him from two moving vehicles. The assassins managed to escape, and the crime has not been solved. The motives behind his killing are unknown.

Early life and career

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Silva Moreno was born in Orizaba, Veracruz on 26 August 1978.[1] He was a journalist collaborated for the outlets Glob@l México, Puntual Puebla,[2] Radio Global, Diario Puntual, El Mundo de Tehuacán, where he covered their crime and police sections.[3][4][5] Initially, Silva Moreno was hired in 2010 by the daily Diario Puntual to cover the local elections in the state of Puebla, and later continued his collaborative work by sending his police reports to the daily.[6] Silva Moreno also worked for the Puebla government under the governorship of Mario Plutarco Marín Torres.[7] Global México, one of the outlets that Moreno Silva worked for, however, stated that the reporter did not work for the government.[8]

Assassination

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In the afternoon of 14 November 2012, Silva Moreno and his friend Misrael López González were covering a crime scene where the Mexican military discovered a warehouse that stashed several stolen oil products reportedly owned by an organized crime group.[9][10][11] After concluding the oil theft investigation, both of them witnessed a gunfight between Mexican soldiers and alleged drug traffickers in Tehuacán, Puebla. While driving back six minutes later, two trucks cut them off the road and opened fire at their vehicle.[12][13] Silva Moreno was killed instantly, while López González tried to escape by running away but was caught up and shot dead by gunmen about a block away from the scene in front of several onlookers.[11][14] According to eyewitnesses, the gunmen were traveling in a stolen red Ford Lobo and a Suburban SUV; the latter was abandoned a few blocks away from the crime scene after one of the tires went flat.[15][16]

The motives behind his assassination are still unclear, but the journalists close to Silva Moreno alleged that he was probably killed for reporting on the oil theft activities of a Mexican organized crime group or because he may have identified the drug traffickers involved in the shootout.[12][17][18]

Nearly 100 journalists, bloggers and writers have been kidnapped or killed in Mexico since 2000, making the country one of the most dangerous places on the planet in which to exercise journalism and press freedom. Most of these crimes, too, have remained unsolved, and only a few perpetrators have been brought to justice.[19]

Funeral

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Family and friends held a wake in memory of Silva Moreno on 16 November 2012 in Tehuacán, the city where he was killed. The funeral home urged for an intensive surveillance operation and for law enforcement presence after rumors that the family had received death threats from organized crime.[20]

Background

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Silva Moreno was killed after reporting on an oil theft investigation. The Mexican drug trafficking organizations have been reported to steal fuel from the government-owned Pemex industry to later supply them to local vendors in exchange for cash. Most of these vendors are threatened and forced by drug lords to sell the stolen fuels to other users within the country or to refineries in the United States.[21][22]

For most of its history, Pemex has been subject to robberies, sometimes stemmed from internal distributors or from low-level gangs who look into selling the stolen fuel at a price lower than the one available in market.[23] But when President Felipe Calderón came into office in 2006, the theft dynamics within Pemex changed; instead of being small-scale gangs, transnational criminal organizations – like Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel – stood up to take over the illegal activities.[23][24] By doing so, they managed to extend their oil theft operatives outside Mexico and began stealing crude oil in growing numbers. Los Zetas, unlike other traditional criminal gangs in Mexico, tends to favor other illegal activities besides drug trafficking; the Sinaloa Cartel, on the other hand, tends to focus solely on drug trafficking and reportedly avoids carrying out kidnappings and extortions.[23] If the Sinaloa Cartel oil theft allegations are true, it can be suspected that the modus operandi of the organization can change, and that the advantages of stealing from Pemex sums up as an "attractive business" for both groups.[23][25]

Although the criminal gangs are much to blame, some members within the Pemex administration are allegedly corrupt and are "directly involved" in the illegal business. To illustrate this point, the Mexican Armed Forces seized more than 4 tons of cannabis inside a Pemex installation at Reynosa, Tamaulipas in February 2010 after security personnel notified them of several trucks carrying large sums of marijuana inside the facility, with armed men guarding them.[26][27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Velaron y sepularán en Orizaba al reportero Adrián Silva Moreno". Diario Noticias (in Spanish). 16 November 2012. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  2. ^ "MEXICO: Crime reporter shot dead in Puebla". PEN International. 22 November 2012. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  3. ^ "La Procuraduría de Puebla confirma el asesinato de un periodista en Tehuacán". CNNMéxico (in Spanish). Turner Broadcasting System. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  4. ^ Rangel, Xóchitl (16 November 2012). "SIP condena y solicita indagar muerte de periodista poblano". El Universal (Mexico City) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  5. ^ "Crime reporter shot dead in Tehuacán, as reign of violence and impunity continues". Reporters Without Borders. 18 November 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Asesinado el periodista Adrián Silva Moreno" (in Spanish). Madrid: Reporters Without Borders. 19 November 2012. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Condena Felap asesinato de periodistas en Puebla, exige castigo a culpables". Radio Fórmula (in Spanish). 16 November 2012. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  8. ^ "Investigación continúa estancada sobre homicidio del periodista Adrián Silva" (in Spanish). Global México. 6 July 2014. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  9. ^ Rodríguez Lezama, Elizabeth (16 November 2012). "Se concentra en la PGJE toda la información sobre asesinato de Adrián Silva". La Jornada (in Spanish). Sierra Nevada Comunicaciones, S.A. de C.V. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Asesinan a balazos a periodista mexicano en el centro del país". Univision (in Spanish). Univision Communications Inc. 15 November 2012. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  11. ^ a b Hernández, Gabriela (14 November 2012). "Asesinan en Puebla a periodista tras cubrir operativo del Ejército". Proceso (in Spanish). Comunicación e Información, S.A. de C.V. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  12. ^ a b "Adrián Silva Moreno". New York City: Committee to Protect Journalists. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  13. ^ "Reporter slain in Mexico". Fox Latin America. Fox Broadcasting Company. 15 November 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  14. ^ Rodríguez Lezama, Elizabeth (15 November 2012). "Comando asesinó a un reportero de Puntual y a un presunto policía municipal en Tehuacán". La Jornada (in Spanish). Sierra Nevada Comunicaciones S.A. de C.V. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  15. ^ Rentería, Teodoro. "Ahora son 19 los asesinatos". Zócalo Saltillo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  16. ^ Amayo, Apolonia (14 November 2012). "Asesinan a expolicía municipal y un acompañante en Tehuacán". Milenio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  17. ^ "El homicidio del reportero Adrián Silva Moreno prendió los focos amarillos". El Sol de Puebla (in Spanish). Organización Editorial Mexicana. 16 November 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  18. ^ "Periodista asesinado a balazos mientras cumplía labor informativa en México". New York City: Committee to Protect Journalists. 15 November 2012. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  19. ^ "Crime Reporter Shot Dead in Puebla". New York City: PEN American Center. 22 November 2012. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  20. ^ Rodríguez, Iván (16 November 2012). "Despiden a reportero de Tehuacán entre fuerte operativo". El Sol de Puebla (in Spanish). Organización Editorial Mexicana. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  21. ^ O'Neill McCleskey, Claire (16 November 2012). "Mexico Journalist Killed While Reporting on Stolen Fuel". InSight Crime. Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  22. ^ Knott, Tracey (10 July 2012). "Mexico Gas Vendors Forced to Buy Fuel Stolen by Gangs". InSight Crime. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  23. ^ a b c d Corcoran, Patrick (20 March 2012). "Oil Theft is Big Business for Mexican Gangs". InSight Crime. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  24. ^ Cervantes, Jesusa (17 March 2012). "Las mafias desangran Pemex y abren boquete en sus finanzas". Proceso (in Spanish). Comunicación e Información, S.A. de C.V. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  25. ^ Fox, Edward (30 May 2012). "Million-Liter Fuel Find in Zetas Territory Highlights Oil Theft in Mexico". InSight Crime. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  26. ^ Ramsey, Geoffrey (6 December 2011). "Mexican Oil Company Reports Surge in Fuel Theft". InSight Crime. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  27. ^ Castillo García, Gustavo (24 February 2010). "Decomisa la Armada más de 4 toneladas de mariguana en sede de Pemex en Reynosa". La Jornada (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
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