Mourning networks: Narco-violence claims the lives of 6 Mexican influencers in the last weeks

Mexico.- So far this year, at least six influencers and content creators, accused of alleged links to organized crime, have been brutally murdered in Mexico, pointing to an internal war between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, specifically between Los Chapitos and Los Mayos. Violence has intensified since September 9, 2024, following the capture in July of the same year of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, former leader of the criminal organization, unleashing a wave of violence in Sinaloa. A turning point was January 9, 2025, when “narco-flyers” were dropped from a small plane in several parts of Culiacán, accusing content creators and singers, including Camilo Ochoa and Markitos Toys, of links to Los Chapitos.

The last of the cases occurred on August 22nd when the Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office reported the discovery of four bodies inside an abandoned van, involving Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay, known on social media as Esmeralda FG, her husband and their two children.

Recent Murders

Camilo Ochoa “The Hallucinator”

    ◦ Date of murder: August 16, 2025.

    ◦ Place: Temixco, Morelos, inside a home. He created content about drug trafficking and his experiences as an alleged former drug trafficker from the Sinaloa Cartel, managing a plaza in Mazatlán until 2014. He spoke openly about the war between Los Chapitos and Los Mayos, and had received threats. Ochoa Delgado, born in March 1982, had a life marked by his connection to drug trafficking, including a kidnapping and his subsequent incorporation into a cartel. His story was also linked to the support he received from the government in operations against leaders of organized crime factions. From a wealthy family, his father Juan Francisco Ochoa is the founder of the well-known restaurant chain ‘El Pollo Loco’, with its first location opened in 1975 in Guasave and five years later opened a branch in California, United States. In social media, ‘El Alucín’ has more than 212 thousand followers on Instagram, while his YouTube channel has more than 300 thousand subscribers.

Agustín Paúl “El Pinky”

• Date of murder: January 10, 2025. • Location: His body was found lifeless with signs of violence and gunshot wounds on La Costerita of the Benito Juarez bypass in Culiacan. A video circulated where he supposedly confessed to hitmen from Los Chapitos that he had provided information about their location to an opposing cell. He is the only one of the mentioned influencers who did not appear on the narco-flyers released in January. Residents of the Sinaloa capital who were passing through the area identified the body, so they made the corresponding report to the authorities. Their personal profile on Instagram has more than 30 thousand followers, while the YouTube channel they shared with other content creators has a total of 97.3 thousand subscribers.

Gael Castro “Gail Castro”

    ◦ Date of murder: March 28, 2025.

• Location: Ensenada, Baja California, while in a restaurant. Brother of the popular tiktoker Markitos Toys and originally from Culiacán. Although his content focused on his lifestyle and travels, he was pointed out in the narco-flyers for supporting Los Chapitos. According to the data, the influencer received more than 15 shots in the stomach and chest from a group of men who arrived at the restaurant in a burgundy Toyota Corolla vehicle. Gael Castro is linked to the attempted trademark registration of the nickname ‘El Nini’ of Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, alleged head of security for Los Chapitos, before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI).

Leovardo Aispuro “Gordo Peruci”

    ◦ Date of murder: December 9, 2024.

• Location: South of Culiacán, shot while walking with his wife. Local media linked him to the influencer Markitos Toys, who is also accused of alleged links to the Sinaloa Cartel. He was blacklisted in January for his alleged links and support for Los Chapitos. According to reports, an armed man tried to rob them of their truck, and when the couple resisted handing over the keys, the attacker opened fire on them. Aispuro managed to consolidate a large audience on digital platforms thanks to his videos, in which, on occasion, he showed controversial displays of firearms.

Miguel Vivanco “El Jasper”

• Date of murder: His body was found lifeless on November 23, 2024. • Place: On a dirt road in the district of El Quemadito, next to the Culiacán-Mazatlán highway. He was reported missing on November 21, 2024, after being forcibly taken by an armed commando. He also appeared in the narco-flyers of Culiacán, accused of alleged links with Los Chapitos. The Sinaloan youtuber had received 70 bullet impacts, in addition to showing possible signs of violence. In the area, the victim was found wrapped in a sheet, with his hands tied and his eyes blindfolded with green tape; for their part, the authorities also noted the presence of spent cartridges from handguns and AR-15 rifles in the crime scene. The ‘Jasper’ had some popularity on social media, as the deceased made multiple collaborations with the influencer Marcos Eduardo Castro Cárdenas, known as ‘Markitos Toys’.

Juan Carlos “El Chilango”

• Date of murder: October 19, 2024. • Place: Musala Island of Culiacán, while selling sweets from a stroller. He alluded to Los Chapitos and the Sinaloa Cartel in his content. He was blacklisted in the narco-flyers of January, accused of being a “financier and close collaborator” of Los Chapitos. A group of armed civilians who were near where Juan Carlos was making his sales opened fire with heavy caliber weapons from the motorcycle they were riding. In various videos posted on social media, especially on TikTok, Juan Carlos combined humor content and scenes from his daily life with direct references to the Sinaloa Cartel and the “Los Chapitos” faction, led by Iván Archivaldo Guzmán after the arrest of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, whom he also mentioned frequently in his recordings.

 Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay

 The ‘tiktoker’ Esmeralda Ferrer Garibay, known on social media as Esmeralda FG, was murdered along with her husband and their two children inside a last-model pick-up truck in San Andrés, Guadalajara.

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The bodies were found on August 22, but it wasn’t until Thursday, August 28, that the Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the identity of the influencer and her family. The influencer generated controversy for including narcocorridos and “corridos tumbados” in her videos, and even went so far as to write in one of them: “Advantages of having a narco boyfriend”, which was interpreted as an apology for the crime.