Anabel Hernandez

Anabel Hernandez was born in Mexico City in 1971, is a leading investigative journalist in Mexico. With a career of 27 years, during the last 19 years has been focused in investigating the drug trafficking cartels in México, principally Sinaloa Cartel; the corruption, violations of human rights, forced disappearance and abuse of power of the mexican government.
As a result of her works as a research journalist Hernandez, her family and sources received a documented series of death attacks, and acts of intimidation so far unpunished.
On 2001 Hernandez was awarded in Mexico with the National Journalism Award. On 2003 she was laureate by UNICEF , Regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Agency EFE, Santillana Foundation in recognition for her investigation about trafficked mexican girls and sexually exploited in agricultural fields of San Diego, California. On 2012 was laureate with the Golden Pen of Freedom award by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

"Mexico has become one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, with violence and impunity remaining major challenges in terms of press freedom. In making this award, WAN-IFRA recognizes the strong stance Ms. Hernández has taken, at great personal risk, against drug cartels. Her actions help ensure the development of good, unrestricted investigative journalism in the region” said the Board of WAN-IFRA.
On 2014 Hernandez obtained the Voice of Voiceless Award from Annunciation House, in El Paso, Texas; the Netherlands Association of Journalist awarded her with the Hans Verploeg Memorial Fund for exposing the corruption in a country were the line between crime, government, and the police is diffused. Reporters Without Borders named in 2014 to Anabel Hernandez one of “100 information heroes” in the world.
She was twice selected to be a fellow in the Investigative Reporting Program (IRP) at the University of California in Berkeley for the periods 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. She has been leading the investigation into the attack and disappearance of 43 students from the rural teacher’s school Raul Isidro Burgos that occurred on September 26 on 2014. Through her deep investigations shows that the official version given by the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto about this case was false and reveals with detail and evidence the systematic violation of human rights by the Mexican government to fabricated the official version, and the collusion of federal and local officials with drug trafficking and drug lords.
On December 2017 was decorated by the government of France with the medal of the Legion of Honor. On December 2018, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo gave to Hernandez the “International Journalism Award”. And on February 2019 Deutsche Welle delivered Freedom of Speech Award 2019 to Anabel Hernandez.

She has collaborated as investigative journalist with Reforma, Milenio, El Universal, Reporte Indigo, Proceso, Aristegui Noticias, Univision (USA), Telemundo (USA), Los Angeles Times (USA), La Repubblica (Italy), and Agencia Pública (Brazil). As a columnist Hernandez has published in The Guardian, Le Monde, La Repubblica, La Stampa, Internazionale; and currently she has a weekly column in Deustche Welle called “Contracorriente!”.
Her long-term investigations about drug trafficking, corruption and abuse of power have been referred by the most important media in the world: National Public Radio (USA), The New Yorker, The New York Times, CNN, NBC, El Mundo, Der Spiegel, BBC, The Associated Press News Aljazeera, Deutsche Welle, etc. And also, in several documentaries about drug trafficking, laundry money, and the case of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa.
She is author of eight books. The best known is the best seller “Los Señores del Narco” published in Spanish in 2010. Was translated to English, in 2013 under the title “Narcoland. The mexican drug lords and their godfathers”, and has become a global benchmark for journalistic investigations into organized crime and corruption. Was translated also to italian in 2014 under the title “La terra dei narcos”, Mondadori 2014, Italy.
In 2016 published “La Verdadera Noche de Iguala. La historia que el gobierno trato de ocultar”, translated to english, on 2018 under the title “A Massacre in Mexico. The True Story Behind the Missing Forty Three”, which became a key of lecture to understanding the tragedy that happened that night to the student.

On December 2019 published “El Traidor. El diario secreto del hijo de El Mayo”. Her investigation dates back to January of 2011, when she's contacted by one of Vicente Zambada Niebla's lawyers, better known as Vicentillo, who was facing charges in a court in Chicago. The intention was to share with the reporter documents and facts that would broaden and clear up various episodes that had just come to light in Los señores del narco.
In these pages, the author goes inside the Sinaloa Cartel through Vicentillo's account, who grimly exhibits the internal workings that give life to the criminal organization, the violence, the thousands of way to traffic drugs, and the complicity among politicians, businessmen, and security forces.

Her last book was published on 2021: “Emma y las otras señoras del narco”. After an exclusive interview with Emma Coronel, wife of drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Loera "El Chapo", leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Anabel Hernandez went deep into the biography and life of the women% mothers, wifes, daugthers, and mistress whom are part of the families that lead the principal organizations of drug trafficking in Mexico.

In March 2023, former Mexican Secretary of State Genaro Garcia Luna was the first high-ranking Mexican official to be found guilty of drug trafficking in the Eastern District Court of New York. He is the official that Anabel Hernández denounced since 2009 of being in collusion with the Sinaloa Cartel, in retaliation he ordered to assassinate her.