Mexican crime reporter Victor Manuel Báez Chino was killed on Thursday morning in Xalapa, the capital of the State of Veracruz. He had been kidnapped on Wednesday evening after he left his office.

Báez Chino covered the police beat for the local edition of the newspaper Milenio in Xalapa. He was also the editor of a website called “Police Reporters” (reporterospoliciacos.mx).

According to local news reports, a note was found next to the journalists’ body, in which the drug cartel Los Zeta allegedly claimed responsibility for the murder. “This is what happens to those who betray and want to be clever, sincerely the Zetas,” the note reportedly said.

“Every journalist’s death is a blow to the citizens and their right to be informed,” said Alison Meston, Press Freedom Director at the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). “Every journalist’s death is a blow to the essence of democracy. The total impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of such crimes in Mexico, raises serious doubts about the Mexican authorities’ understanding of democracy.”

IPI Deputy Director Anthony Mills described Báez’s murder as yet another sign that the Mexican authorities are failing to protect journalists’ right to report freely and safely. “This is a grave and lethal shortcoming that further undermines Mexico’s ability to uphold the rule of law and safeguard the free flow of information – which, especially in the current violent crisis, is of enormous importance,” Mills noted.

The Veracruz government’s spokeswoman, Gina Domínguez Colío, condemned the murder of Victor Báez, noting that only few days earlier Báez had told her that journalists “can not and should not be living in fear.”

The Attorney General of the State of Veracruz, who initiated an investigation into Báez’s murder, reportedly stated that they will provide protection to all journalists working with the website “Police Reporters,” in cooperation with the Department of Public Safety.

Báez Chino is the sixth journalist killed in Mexico in less than two months’ time. Five of them were killed in the State of Veracruz. One, Marco Antonio Ávila García, was killed on May 22 in the northern State of Sonora.