Los Plebes de Arranke: Narcocorridos Singer Rogelio Brambila Lizarraga Found Dead in Tijuana
The singer of the local band Los Plebes de Arranke was found dead on Saturday morning in Tijuana, Baja California, SDP Noticias reported. The body of Rogelio Brambila Lizárraga was discovered in a car parked in the city's Montebello neighborhood; he had been shot multiple times with guns of at least two different calibers, the website added.
The musical style of Brambila Lizárraga's group is known as "narcocorrido," a subgenre of the Mexican norteño-corrido whose lyrics tend to speak approvingly of illegal activities; the 22-year-old dedicated most of his songs to the Tijuana Cartel, the once powerful criminal organization in the northern Mexican city, according to Univisión.
According to the Baja California Attorney General's Office, Brambilla Lizárraga -- a university student -- left his residence upon receiving a call, noting he was headed out for dinner. Hours later, his remains were discovered inside a white 2004 Audi, Proceso noted based on official reports.
The singer was seated in the driver's seat, and the vehicle -- which apparently did not belong to him -- had impacts along its body and windows, SDP Noticias detailed. Also at the scene, officials discovered four casings of a calibre 9 handgun, as well as six casings of a calibre 40 weapon, the website added.
The vocalist's violent death comes just days after Javier Rosas, another narcocorrido artist, was wounded in a shootout in Culiacán, Sinaloa, La Opinión recalled. In that incident, two individuals died from gunfire, while the 23-year-old singer remains hospitalized and in critical conditions, according to the newspaper.
Rosas was shot more than 20 times when he was attacked at a small grocery store in the capital of the northwestern Mexican state. Hours before the incident, he had highlighted a concert in Culiacán's "Foro Tecate" along the "Adictiva Banda San José de Mesillas" and "Los Titanes de Durango" bands.
Violent acts have frequently affected the narcocorrido genre, and between 2006 and 2008 -- the height of the Mexican drug war -- more than a dozen prominent Mexican musicians were murdered. The most prominent victims included banda music singer Valentín Elizalde and K-Paz de la Sierra frontman Sergio Gómez.
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