July 31 (Reuters) – Mexican police rescued two journalists on Saturday who were kidnapped earlier in the week by suspected drug traffickers seeking to silence the media.
Federal police said they carried out a raid in the morning, freeing cameramen Javier Canales and Alejandro Hernandez, who work for Mexican television networks.
“They were rescued today,” the security ministry said in a statement.
The two were abducted on Monday after covering a prison scandal in the northern state of Durango in which inmates are accused of being hired guns for a local cartel. Two other journalists covering the scandal were reportedly abducted around the same time.
Local media said one of the kidnapped journalists, reporter Hector Gordoa, was freed on Thursday. It was unclear if the fourth journalist had also been freed.
Across Mexico, a war between rival cartels for control of the multibillion-dollar drug trade has killed more than 26,000 people since late 2006, worrying Washington and investors.
Attacks on the media have mounted as drug gangs seek to silence journalists who report on the drug killings.
Since 2006, at least 30 journalists have been killed in Mexico, according to Mexican media. Mexico is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media, the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists says. (Reporting by Jason Lange, editing by Anthony Boadle)
