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Propaganda matters' Influencers targeted in war of Mexican cartels
The Guardian
|September 04, 2025
Influencers targeted in war of Mexican cartels
Earlier this year, pamphlets fluttered down from a helicopter over Culiacán, capital of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, accusing an array of influencers and musicians of serving organised crime. Four of the 25 faces displayed already had "ELIMINATED" stamped across them. Since then, two more have been killed. The latest was Camilo Ochoa, a narco-turned-YouTuber who was shot dead on 17 August.
Influencers have become targets amid a war between factions of the Sinaloa cartel, reflecting both their alleged role in money laundering and their place in cartel propaganda, and the parallel war being waged online. The conflict erupted following the detention of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who founded the Sinaloa cartel with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, by the US authorities along with one of Guzmán's sons after a small plane landed in Texas in July 2024.
This story is from the September 04, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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