Mexican journalist Jesus Blancornelas, who risked his life while exposing the links between the country's dangerous drug cartels and local government officials, has died at the age of 70.
Reports say Blancornelas suffered from a lung condition dating back to childhood that had worsened in recent weeks.
Blancornelas spent much of his career uncovering the workings of Mexico's violent drug trade, including the Arellano Felix cartel in Tijuana. He co-founded the Tijuana-based weekly newspaper in 1980, and barely survived an assassination attempt in 1997. assistant editor Hector Felix Miranda was gunned down in 2004 in front of his young children.
In 2005, Blancornelas was awarded the Daniel Pearl Award for courageous journalism by the Los Angeles Press Club. The award is named after the reporter who was abducted and killed in Pakistan in 2002.