Gunmen in eastern Mexico shot dead a journalist on Thursday, a state entity and local media reported, marking the latest murder in one of the world's most dangerous countries for the press.

The reporter, Carlos Castro, covered crime for local news outlet Codigo Norte Veracruz, according to Mexican media and the State Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists, an autonomous body of the regional government.

The gunmen shot Castro at a restaurant in the city of Poza Rica in the state of Veracruz, according to digital news outlet RECORD. No arrests have been made.

In a statement, the commission called for a thorough investigation of the killing and said those responsible should be reported to authorities.

Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries for members of the press, with more than 150 journalists murdered since 1994, according to Reporters Without Borders.

In a report released in December, Reporters Without Borders said at least nine journalists were killed in 2025 in Mexico, which was the second most dangerous country in the world for reporters last year.

The state of Veracruz, which borders the Gulf of Mexico, has been impacted for years by violence linked to organized crime groups fighting for control of drug trafficking routes.

In October, Mexican journalist Miguel Angel Beltran, who covered drug trafficking, was found dead along a stretch of highway that connects the northwest state of Durango with Mazatlan, a resort hub in the neighboring state of Sinaloa. Local media reported the journalist's body was found wrapped in a blanket, with a message that read: "For spreading false accusations against the people of Durango."

Mexico had its deadliest year for journalists in 2022, with 13 killings, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists and Articulo 19, an organization promoting press freedom in Mexico. Since 2000, Articulo 19 has documented at least 174 murders and 31 disappearances of journalists in Mexico.

All but a handful of media workers' killings and abductions remain unsolved.

"Impunity is the norm in crimes against the press," the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a 2024 report on Mexico.

A report by CPJ and Amnesty International showed in 2024 that Mexico fails in its efforts to provide state-sanctioned protection to members of the press.

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