Dominican journalist Jose Agustin Silvestre promised to reveal a bombshell in the next edition of his magazine: a story of drugs and corruption involving local businessmen.
He never got the chance.
Before he could publish his exposé, Silvestre was kidnapped and shot to death. His body, with three bullet wounds, was found along a busy road outside La Romana, a fast-growing town next to one of the country's best-known Caribbean resorts.
While attacks on journalists covering drug trafficking are common throughout much of Latin America, they are rare in the Dominican Republic, although the country has become a conduit for drugs bound for the U.S. and Europe.
Irene Drives 37,000 from Homes in DRSilvestre's death, which prompted a police investigation that quickly yielded arrests, opened a window into the country's growing narco-culture, with allegations of corruption that circled back to the slain journalist himself.
Carlos Lauria, senior Americas coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, expressed alarm at the killing despite the allegations of possible wrongdoing by Silvestre that emerged after his slaying.
"Unfortunately, the trend, not only in the Americas but in the world, is that most of these crimes (against journalists) go unpunished," Lauria said.
Police so far have arrested five people in the case but not the alleged mastermind. He has been identified as Matias Avelino Castro, the 40-year-old owner of a resort hotel on the Samana peninsula as well as other businesses, said Frank Soto, the prosecutor leading the investigation.
Journalist Kidnapped and Killed Over Looming Exposé of Drugs and Corruption Among Businessmen | Fox News Latino
He never got the chance.
Before he could publish his exposé, Silvestre was kidnapped and shot to death. His body, with three bullet wounds, was found along a busy road outside La Romana, a fast-growing town next to one of the country's best-known Caribbean resorts.
While attacks on journalists covering drug trafficking are common throughout much of Latin America, they are rare in the Dominican Republic, although the country has become a conduit for drugs bound for the U.S. and Europe.
Irene Drives 37,000 from Homes in DRSilvestre's death, which prompted a police investigation that quickly yielded arrests, opened a window into the country's growing narco-culture, with allegations of corruption that circled back to the slain journalist himself.
Carlos Lauria, senior Americas coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, expressed alarm at the killing despite the allegations of possible wrongdoing by Silvestre that emerged after his slaying.
"Unfortunately, the trend, not only in the Americas but in the world, is that most of these crimes (against journalists) go unpunished," Lauria said.
Police so far have arrested five people in the case but not the alleged mastermind. He has been identified as Matias Avelino Castro, the 40-year-old owner of a resort hotel on the Samana peninsula as well as other businesses, said Frank Soto, the prosecutor leading the investigation.
Journalist Kidnapped and Killed Over Looming Exposé of Drugs and Corruption Among Businessmen | Fox News Latino
