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This is the moment masked gunmen smash into a journalist’s home before abducting her at gunpoint in front of her terrified family.
The abduction happened in the city of Nanchital in southern Veracruz state, a Gulf coast region of Mexico known for oil industry activity and ongoing cartel violence, on 2nd June.
Video recorded inside the property shows several masked men dressed in black arriving outside the home of journalist Roxana Berenice Guzman Ramírez during the early morning hours.
The armed group is seen using sledgehammers and heavy tools to smash through the front door and windows while relatives inside the property scream and beg them to stop.
One shirtless relative standing behind the damaged entrance shouts desperately at the attackers to wait, before a rifle barrel is pushed through the hole in the shattered doorway and pointed directly at him.
The footage then shows the gunmen finally forcing their way inside, carrying assault rifles while family members inside the house are threatened and ordered to the floor.
One of the masked intruders stretches out his arm and grabs the mobile phone recording the incident, abruptly cutting the video.
According to relatives, Roxana was then forcibly taken from the home and driven away to an unknown location.
The journalist is the director of local digital news outlet Pulso Informativo del Sureste, also known as Pulso Nanchiteco, which covered community complaints, local politics and security issues in the region.
Authorities later confirmed that prosecutors in Veracruz opened an investigation into the kidnapping following the violent raid at her home.
The Veracruz State Prosecutor’s Office said prosecutors, forensic experts and ministerial police officers had launched search operations and evidence-gathering efforts to establish what happened and locate the missing journalist.
Officials have not publicly identified the kidnappers or confirmed a motive for the abduction.
Authorities also said they had not determined whether the attack was linked to Roxana’s journalistic work and that multiple lines of investigation remained open.
Reports in Mexico said Roxana had recently published stories about local complaints involving rotten eggs being sold and a family seeking medical compensation after an accident involving an official municipal vehicle.
The kidnapping has sparked concern among journalist organisations and press freedom groups across Mexico.
Reports also noted that Roxana had previously left Veracruz in 2017 after her husband Carlos Fernandez Escalante was shot dead in Nanchital.
She later returned to the state and founded her own digital media outlet earlier this year.
At the time of writing, Roxana’s whereabouts remained unknown.
(Marija Stojkoska/Newsflash)
Byline Journalist: Marija Stojkoska
Byline Sub editor: Marija Stojkoska
Byline Spotter: Ivica Stojanovski
Byline Commisioning Editor: Angela Trajkovska
Byline Senior Writer: Marija Stojkoska
Byline Picture Editor: Joana Mihajlovska
Byline Video Editor: Aloysius Fernandes
Byline Copychecker: Angela Trajkovska
Byline Illustrator: Angela Trajkovska
Byline News Editor: Mike Leidig
Geography: Nanchital
Subject: Crime, Kidnapping, Social media, Society
T4 Editor Story Rating: 7
T4 Editor Pic/Vid rating: 7
T4 Total rating: 7
