Authorities announced Thursday that the bodies of five musicians from the Mexican-area band Grupo Fugitivo were found in the northern city of Reynosa, along the Texas border.
The band has been known for gatherings and dancing locally since Sunday. According to Tamolipas prosecutors, the musician was kidnapped around 10 p.m. while heading to the SUV's performance venue.
Their bodies were found in the suburbs of Reynosa, resulting in the arrest of nine suspects, believed to be members of the Gulf Cartel faction, who maintained a strong influence in the city.
Although authorities have not disclosed the motive behind the killings, they have not denied local media reports that the bodies were burned.
Grupo Fugitivo plays Mexican regional music, which includes styles such as Corridos and Cumbia.
Young artists sometimes pay tribute to the leaders of drug cartels, often portrayed as Robin Hood-like figures.
It is unclear whether the band played such songs or whether the artists were just victims of growing cartel violence.
Mexican Army members were guarding the scene, and members of music group Grupo Fugitivo were found dead in Renosa, Mexico (Reuters), according to Mexican authorities.
But other artists face cartel death threats, while others have been deprived of visas by the United States accused them of glorious criminal violence.
The last time the musicians heard was the night they were kidnapped when they told their family that they were on their way to the event. After that, nothing was heard.
Their disappearance caused a stir in Tamaulipas, a country that has long been eclipsed by the cartel war. Their families reported missing, calling on the public to seek support, and people protested in the streets.
Protesters blocked the international bridge connecting Renosa to Pal, Texas, on Wednesday, and later went to a local cathedral to pray and serve the missing.
Reynosa, a Mexican border city adjacent to the United States, has been plagued by violence since 2017 due to internal disputes among groups fighting to control drug trafficking, human smuggling and fuel theft.
The case comes after another case in 2018, when armed personnel kidnapped two members of the music group Los Norteños de Río Bravo, and later found bodies on the federal highway, connecting Reynosa to Reynosa and Tamaulipas.
