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Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kidnapped Mexican band members and manager found dead near Texas border
Four music band members and their manager were found dead on a ranch near the border with Texas, the attorney general for the northeastern state of Tamaulipas revealed Thursday. The Grupo Fugitivo members were with their manager when they were abducted before a scheduled private event in the border city Reynosa on Sunday and were located Wednesday night. The victims were identified as band members Francisco Vázquez, 20; Víctor Garza, 21; José Morales, 23; and Nemesio Durán; 40. Livan Solís, 27, who was the group's manager and photographer. The norteño musicians, who performed at parties and local dances in the region, and their manager were abducted Sunday around 10pm while traveling in a SUV on the way to a venue where they were hired to play, according to Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios. Their bodies were found on the fringes of Reynosa. The Tamaulipas prosecutor's office also said nine suspects believed to be part of Los Metros, a faction of the Gulf Cartel, which has strong presence in Reynosa, were arrested. Cops seized two vehicles and two firearms. Authorities were not immediately able to say why the men were slain, and did not deny reports by local media that the bodies had been burned. Grupo Fugitivo performed at a private event in Riberas de Rancho Grande, a town in Reynosa, and were traveling in a black GMC to a second private booking. They made a stop at the McAllen-Reynosa International Bridge, where they posed for pictures and filmed a short video clip that were uploaded on their Facebook account at 9:54 pm and 9:55 pm. Shortly thereafter, Vázquez, Garza, Morales, Durán and Solís left in the SUV while lead singer traveled in a separate vehicle González arrived at the meeting point but did not see his bandmates and decided to return home, according to media reports. The missing SUV was located Tuesday but did not show any signs of violence. González has yet to comment on the incident. Group Fugitivo formed in 2023 and played Mexican regional music, which encapsulates a wide range of styles including corridos and cumbia - has in recent years gained a spotlight as it's entered a sort of international musical renaissance. Young artists sometimes pay homage to leaders of drug cartels, often portrayed as Robin Hood-type figures. It was not immediately clear if the group played such songs or if the artists were simply victims of rampant cartel violence that has eclipsed the city. However, other artists have faced death threats by cartels, while others have had their visas stripped by the United States under accusations by the Trump administration that they were glorifying criminal violence. The last time the musicians were heard from was the night they were kidnapped, when they told family members they were on the way to the event. After that, nothing else was heard of them. Their disappearance caused an uproar in Tamaulipas, a state long eclipsed by cartel warfare. Their families reported the disappearances, called on the public for support and people took to the streets in protest. On Wednesday, protesters blocked the international bridge connecting Reynosa and Pharr, Texas, later going to a local cathedral to pray and make offerings to the disappeared. Reynosa is a Mexican border city adjacent to the United States and has been plagued by escalating violence since 2017 due to internal disputes among groups vying for control of drug trafficking, human smuggling and fuel theft. This case follows another that occurred in 2018, when armed men kidnapped two members of the musical group 'Los Norteños de Río Bravo,' whose bodies were later found on the federal highway connecting Reynosa to Río Bravo, Tamaulipas.
Al Jazeera
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Al Jazeera
Five Mexican musicians abducted, murdered by alleged drug cartel
Drug cartel members are suspected of murdering five Mexican band members, who went missing after being hired to perform a concert in a crime-ridden city in the northeast of the country. The Diario de Mexico newspaper said on Thursday that the bodies of the five musicians had been discovered after they went missing on Sunday, and nine suspects were arrested in connection with their abduction and killing. According to authorities, the nine suspects are part of the 'Los Metros' faction of the Gulf Cartel, which operates in the city of Reynosa, in Tamaulipas state, near the United States border. 'Law enforcement arrested nine individuals considered likely responsible for the events. They are known to be members of a criminal cell of the Gulf Cartel,' Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios told a news conference. Tamaulipas is considered one of Mexico's most dangerous states due to the presence of cartel members involved in drug and migrant trafficking, as well as other crimes, including extortion. The announcement of the arrests came hours after officials said five bodies had been found in the search for the men, who were members of a local band called Fugitivo. The musicians were hired to put on a concert on Sunday but arrived to find that the location of their proposed performance was a vacant lot, according to family members who had held a protest urging the authorities to act. Relatives had reported receiving ransom demands for the musicians, who were aged between 20 and 40 years old. Mexican musicians have been targeted previously by cartel members amid rivalry, as some receive payment to compose and perform songs that glorify the exploits of gang leaders. Investigators used video surveillance footage and mobile phone tracking to establish the musicians' last movements, Barrios said. Nine firearms and two vehicles were seized, he said. More than 480,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence and organised crime, and about 120,000 people have gone missing, in Mexico.
