In 1997 in Tijuana, Blancornelas was ambushed and wounded by gunmen of the Tijuana Cartel after he published a photo of the drug lord Ramón Arellano Félix. Blancornelas was nearly killed when the attackers opened fire on his car, wounding him in the abdomen and killing his driver and bodyguard, Luis Valero Elizalde, who died protecting him and managed to kill one of the shooters. Blancornelas suffered complications from the injury for the rest of his life. In the attack, Blancornelas' car was hit more than 180 times, but only four bullets penetrated the journalist's body. Valero, however, was hit 38 times.