Mexican Musician Ernesto Barajas of Enigma Norteño Assassinated in Jalisco

Ernesto Barajas, the 38-year-old lead singer of the popular regional Mexican band Enigma Norteño, was assassinated in Jalisco, Mexico, on Tuesday. The musician was shot and killed inside a car lot in the city of Zapopan, which is part of the Guadalajara metropolitan area. A person accompanying him also died in the attack, and a female bystander was seriously injured.

The killing of a prominent figure in the narcocorrido music scene has once again highlighted the dangers faced by artists whose work is intertwined with the country’s powerful drug cartels.

Details of the Attack and Investigation

According to preliminary reports from local authorities and witnesses, Barajas was in a truck inside a vehicle lot when he was approached by two armed individuals on a motorcycle. The assailants opened fire before fleeing the scene. Municipal police were the first to arrive, cordoning off the area to allow state investigators and forensic experts to gather evidence.

The Jalisco Public Security Secretariat has launched an official investigation into the attack. While no official motive has been released, the circumstances of the murder and Barajas’s professional background point to a potential link to organized crime.

The Controversial World of Narcocorridos

Enigma Norteño, founded in 2004, is one of the most well-known bands in the narcocorrido genre, a subculture of Mexican folk music that tells stories about the lives of drug traffickers. The band gained a large following with millions of monthly listeners on Spotify and YouTube, despite a reputation for being controversial.

Although the band has always denied having direct ties to cartels, Barajas previously admitted they were hired to write songs for cartel members. Their repertoire includes corridos dedicated to high-profile figures such as Nemesio Oseguera, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), and members of the rival Sinaloa Cartel, including Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s son, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán.

A History of Threats and Tensions

The assassination of Ernesto Barajas comes after a series of public incidents that exposed the dangerous tightrope he walked. In August 2023, Enigma Norteño was forced to cancel a performance in Baja California after receiving a direct threat from the CJNG. The cartel warned Barajas in a banner, accusing him of being protected by leaders of a Sinaloa Cartel faction in Tijuana.

Just a few months ago, another singer, Arley Pérez, publicly accused Barajas of blocking his career on the orders of Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, a former security chief for a Sinaloa Cartel faction. These events paint a clear picture of the professional risks inherent in writing and performing for competing cartels.

Barajas also maintained a YouTube podcast where he interviewed fellow regional Mexican artists, but his career was ultimately defined by a genre that, for many, is a source of both immense fame and profound danger.