“Valdez was confronted with a tough calculation. Over two and a half decades, he’d reported from deep inside Sinaloa’s narco world. Traffickers speak to journalists for any number of reasons: to boast, or to confess their sins, or to expose a rival network’s inner workings. Usually Valdez’s sources were low down the chain of command, and he protected their identity with anonymity. But to print the words of a higher-up by name would mean raising the stakes … In the end, Valdez chose to run the story; the information, he decided, was of great enough public interest for him to take the risk.” Esquire: Inside The Brilliant Career And Tragic Death Of Javier Valdez.