Mexican authorities have arrested 16 people following the murders of B King and DJ Regio Clown, who are at the center of a deadly crime investigation.
Those arrested have links to a powerful drug gang accused of controlling the city’s trade in brand-name drugs.
The Colombian rapper, whose real name is Byron Sanchez Salazar, and his DJ partner Jorge Herrera Lemus were killed in a dispute involving a “tusi,” officials said. “tusi” is a synthetic pink powder sold as cocaine but often contains methamphetamine.
Two people were found stabbed to death on a highway outside Mexico City on September 17, a day after they were kidnapped from a gym in the upscale Polanco neighborhood.
The Mexico state attorney general’s office announced the arrests on Oct. 31, saying the killings were related to a turf war over who could distribute the lucrative party drug at concerts and events.
Investigators traced a silver Mercedes-Benz used in the kidnapping to Jaime N., also known as “Puga,” a member of the notorious Union de Tepito gang.
Authorities said the gang had granted exclusive distribution rights to a man named “M###” and that any unauthorized sales of “tusi” or “coco Channel” – a mixture of cocaine and methamphetamine – would be met with violent consequences.
“The murders of the Colombian musicians are linked to the commercialization of drugs, the debt one of the musicians owed to criminal organizations and a personal relationship with a man known as ‘El Pantera,'” the prosecutor general’s statement said.
One of the arrested suspects, Christopher N., nicknamed “El Comandante”, is believed to have ties to “El Pantera” who is still at large. The case has also come under scrutiny for alleged law enforcement misconduct.
Four Colombian nationals claimed they were tortured by Mexican prosecutors in an attempt to extract confessions, El Pais reported. The men said they had been suffocated by plastic bags and produced photos of the Mercedes-Benz when forced to identify them.
On Sept. 24, authorities found the Mercedes inside a building and rescued another kidnapping victim. The discovery expanded the investigation into a wider range of criminal activities, including drug trafficking and violent loan sharking.
At the scene where the bodies of B King and DJ Regio Clown were dumped, police found a drug banner with threats and the initials “FM,” believed to refer to the Michoacán Familia drug cartel.
Security analysts say “tusi” has become a status symbol and is said to be one of “Diddy’s” Sean Combs’ favorite drugs.
