The killing of a young influencer, caught on camera as he was livestreaming in Mexico’s Sinaloa state, has raised questions about possible links between content creators and criminal cartels in this violence-wracked part of the country.
On the stream, two men on a motorbike can be seen riding up to César Gastélum, who is chatting to two friends outside a fast food restaurant in the city of Culiacán.
The murder happens within seconds: the driver of the bike shoots him in the head at close range before fleeing.
While the Sinaloa state prosecutor’s office provided little detail about the incident, it did say that its lines of investigations included a number of posts Gastélum had published, “some of which refer to a criminal group”.
Gastélum is not the first influencer to be murdered in Sinaloa.
At least 10 content creators have been killed in the state since a deadly war broke out between two rival factions of the Sinaloa criminal cartel two years ago.
Officials say Gastélum had not received any threats from criminal groups, nor was he under investigation by police for any alleged criminal links, as had been the case with some of the influencers targeted in the past.
But according to Claudia Arruñada, a communications expert at Mexico’s Iberoamerican University, the worlds of social media and the criminal underworld can sometimes become intertwined – with at times deadly consequences.
“The [social media] algorithm and the narcos promote the same thing: consumption and luxury as ultimate values, to be achieved in the quickest way possible.”
“The model for success is no longer based on methodically working on your career, but rather on having a meteoric rise,” she adds.
Arruñada argues that in some cases influencers have promoted narcoculture, by showing luxurious lifestyles to their followers and linking these riches to the exploits of narcos.
Gastélum often shared pictures of himself posing with expensive cars, enjoying the nightlife and going on luxury trips, as well as comedy clips and challenges.
In one photo he posted, he could be seen at the grave of Leobardo Aispuro, better known as “El Gordo Peruci”, an influencer who was murdered in 2024.
Content creators like him have vehemently rejected being labelled as “narco-influencers”, arguing that the sheer fact of being a young public figure showing off a luxury lifestyle can make you a target in Culiacán.
Some studies suggest that the cartels – which function very much like multinational companies with various business interests – do use content creators as community managers, to promote their “brand”.
When rival factions turn on each other, those seen as spreading propaganda for one group can quickly become targets for its sworn enemies.
This is what appears to have happened in January 2025, when leaflets were dropped from an aircraft onto the streets of Culiacán.
