Internationally recognised journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas, a co-founder of weekly newspaper Riodoce and a contributor to La Jornada, was gunned down on the morning of May 15, 2017 after leaving Riodoce’s office in Sinaloa, the capital of Culiacan state. He was reportedly killed by two men who stopped his car and forced him out of it before shooting him 12 times. Valdez was known for his coverage of drug trafficking, organised crime and corruption in Mexico. He reportedly received multiple anonymous death threats in the three months leading up to his murder and just weeks before his death he told the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists that he was concerned for his safety.