Ernesto Barajas, musician who celebrated drug cartel exploits in songs, shot dead in parking lot in Mexico

A popular Mexican musician who sang the praises of drug lords was shot dead in a parking lot in the west of the country, police said late Tuesday.

Ernesto Barajas, a singer with the group Enigma Norteno, which has four million monthly listeners on Spotify, was gunned down in the city of Zapopan in Jalisco state.

He is among several performers of so-called “narco-corridos” — a controversial sub-genre of regional music that celebrates the exploits of infamous drug cartels — to have been killed in recent months. In May, five members of the group Fugitivo were murdered by suspected drug traffickers in Tamaulipas state. Their bodies were found several days after their families reported receiving ransom demands.

Police said two men approached Barajas by motorcycle in a parking lot on Tuesday and opened fire on him. Another man died in the attack and a woman was injured in the leg, they said.

Enigma Norteno’s repertoire includes a song dedicated to Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico’s biggest drug trafficking organizations. The U.S. government has offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture. 

The group also has a track called “Los Chapitos,” after the sons of notorious drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, currently serving life imprisonment in the United States. The Chapitos have used corkscrews, electrocution and hot chiles to torture their rivals while some of their victims were “fed dead or alive to tigers,” according to an indictment released by the U.S. Justice Department.

Mexican criminal groups pay musicians to compose and perform songs that glorify their exploits.

Sometimes the singers get caught up in turf wars.

Mexican media said that Barajas had received threats from the CJNG in the past.

Several regions in the country have banned “narco-corridos,” sparking a recent riot during a concert after a singer refused to perform some of his most popular songs.

In recent months, the Trump administration has revoked the visas of a slew of artists related to the genre. In May, the famous northern Mexican band Grupo Firme, which has taken steps to distance itself from the cartel-centric themes of the genre, announced it would have to cancel an upcoming show in California because its visas were suspended.

In April, the administration said it was revoking the visas of the band Alegres de Barranco after they flashed the face of “El Mencho” behind them at a concert, prompting a controversy and even criminal investigations in Mexico. In June, the band released an anti-narco song in a bid to clear its name.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration sanctioned Mexican musician Ricardo Hernández, known as “El Makabelico,” over allegations that the artist was laundering money for a drug cartel.