Best investigative reporting in any medium on an international story
Award Year: 2024
Award Name: The Roy Rowan Award 2024
Recipient: Natalie Kitroeff and Paulina Villegas
Affiliation: The New York Times
Honored Work: “Mexico’s Fentanyl Machine”
It’s hard to find a more dangerous reporting subject than Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. But New York Times reporters Natalie Kitroeff and Paulina Villegas not only provide a sweeping account of the vicious drug cartel’s billion-dollar operation but skillfully gained entry to one of its secret fentanyl labs to see how the deadly drug is prepared for the American market. Pursued at great personal risk, this daring investigation presents a gripping picture of the workings of this violent organization and how its sophisticated operations keep it one step ahead of authorities.
Links to the winning work:
How Mexican Cartels Test Fentanyl on Vulnerable People and Animals
‘This Is What Makes Us Rich’: Inside a Sinaloa Cartel Fentanyl Lab
Mexican Cartels Lure Chemistry Students to Make Fentanyl
The American Drug Mules Smuggling Fentanyl Into the U.S.
A Cartel Double-Cross Turns a Mexican State Into a War Zone
Citation for Excellence:
The New York Times
“48 Children Were Taken From Ukraine. Many Are Up For Adoption in Russia”