Journalist Ioan Grillo has ventured into the coverage of crime, drugs and corruption in Mexico like few other professionals in the communications sector. His investigations on violence in this country earned him the recognition of Columbia University in New York, which awarded him the Gold Medal of the Maria Moors Cabot Awards in 2022.  

In addition to freelancing for major international media and news agencies such as the NewYork Times, France 24, Times Magazine, CNN, Reuters, Al Jazeera, National Geographic, GlobalPost, The Associated Press, The Sunday Telegraph and Time Magazine, he is the author of a trilogy of books based on drug cartels and their funding. He has also brought his stories with great success to other formats such as podcasts and television series. 

Throughout his more than two decades fully dedicated to journalism, Grillo has witnessed the beginning of the war against cartels implemented by former Mexican President Felipe Calderón and has been involved in monitoring and reporting from the hotspots of drug violence such as the states of Sinaloa and Michoacán. 

Besides drug trafficking, as a reporter he has dealt with other relevant issues in Latin America such as the struggle between the political forces of the left and the right in countries like Venezuela and Honduras; natural disasters, the wave of emigration to the North or the economic crisis. An experience that has made him a recognized figure in this branch of specialized journalism.

• Journalist specialized in organized crime and corruption 
• Freelance journalist for international media and agencies (NewYork Times, France 24, Times Magazine, CNN, Reuters, among others)
• Associated Press journalist 
• Freelance reporter for The Houston Chronicle 
• Journalist for The News 
• B.A. in Politics and History from the University of Kent