Members of Mexican band that shared artwork ‘glorifying’ drug cartel boss have their US visas revoked

Members of a popular Mexican band had their US visa revoked after they were accused of “glorifying a drug kingpin” during a recent performance.

The move was taken after an image of the leader of the infamous Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was projected onto a screen at a recent concert by the group, Los Alegres del Barranco, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said.

The group, formed in the Mexican state of Sinaloa in 2005, was scheduled to perform more than a dozen US tour dates this year including in Alabama, California, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas.

But after the image of cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Ramos — more commonly known as El Mencho — was featured at a performance in the Mexican city of Zapopan on Saturday, the US State Department came down hard on the group.

“A Mexican band, ‘Los Alegres del Barranco,’ portrayed images glorifying drug kingpin ‘El Mencho’ — head of the grotesquely violent CJNG cartel — at a recent concert in Mexico,” Landau said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday night.

“I’m pleased to announce that the State Department has revoked the band members’ work and tourism visas. In the Trump Administration, we take seriously our responsibility over foreigners’ access to our country,” he went on.

“The last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists,” the statement concluded.

Mexico’s left-wing president, Claudia Sheinbaum, also condemned Saturday’s performance.

“This shouldn’t happen, it’s not right,” she told a press conference this week, as she ordered an investigation into the stunt.

One of the group’s members, Pavel Morales, branded their critics “confused,” and added that the majority of their audience supports them, in a video responding to a fan’s question about the incident which was shared on TikTok.

Representatives for the band did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Songs of terror

Saturday’s image of El Mencho was displayed while the band was performing a song in praise of the drug kingpin.

The song — an example of the infamous narcocorrido, or drug ballad, genre — described the cartel leader glowingly as “a man of war who loves his family,” although it did not explicitly name the CJNG cartel.

It is not the only narcocorrido song the band has written in their 20-year career.

An earlier song called “The 701” praises Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the notorious former leader of the Sinaloa cartel, describing how he rose to be on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest people.

Narcocorridos — odes to drug cartel leaders — are common in Mexico.

Often bands playing norteña music — a genre that features polka-inspired rhythms and catchy lyrics — are paid by drug barons to compose songs in their honor.

Some groups early on in their careers rely on the money they can make from being hired to play at private parties hosted by people with ties to the cartels.