The day Los Zetas massacred a musical group in the middle of their war against the Gulf Cartel

The war between organized crime groups has stained the country with endless unfortunate events and victims from multiple spheres, from citizens to the political and artistic spheres.

In January 2013, one of the most tragic episodes took place that filled the music scene with grief, since 17 members of the group Kombo Colombia (between musicians and assistants) were kidnapped and executed by Los Zetas.

By then, Los Zetas had already established an international network of drug-trafficking contacts and had taken it upon themselves to terrorize the country with their brutality.

Despite being born as an armed wing of the Gulf cartelthose with the last letter increased their presence and combat capacity, which motivated their separation and direct confrontation with the organization after Osiel Cardenas Guillen was extradited to the United States.

In the midst of their struggle against the Gulf Cartel in the territories of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, Los Zetas perpetrated the first massacre of Enrique Peña Nieto’s six-year term and one of the most atrocious in recent Mexican history.

Kombo Kolombia was a vallenato group with little experience, but which had begun to gain popularity in the north of the country.

Newspaper reports indicate that on January 23 they were contacted by José Isidro Cruz Villarreal, alias “El Pichilo”, to play at an event. “El Pichilo” was at that time the leader of Los Zetas in Nuevo León.

Before said agreement, Kombo Kolombia had already played in different venues and celebrations of the criminal group. Even the inquiries showed that this cartel had financially supported to the musical band to boost his career.

However, this presentation was only the camouflage for a heinous revenge. On the night of January 25, Kombo Kolombia arrived for a meeting at the La Carreta farm, located in the municipality of Hidalgo.

After a couple of hours of music, a group of men subdued the artists and other members of their production team and deprived them of their freedom, all under the orders of “Pichilo”.

Their voices and instruments were silenced by at least twelve hitmen, who took them to an abandoned ranch in the municipality of Mina, called the stakesvery close to the Monterrey – Monclova highway.

At said location, 17 members of the gang were tortured, kneed and shot one on one with a shot to the head. As if that were not enough, the criminals who worked for “El Pichilo” They dumped the bodies at the bottom of a well.

Thirteen musicians, three team members and a sound engineer were the victims of that tragic night. Only one member of the band survived.. Unofficial versions indicated that Los Zetas released him to spread the news and, with it, send a message to his rivals.

The young man who managed to save himself from the fatal fate of his companions was the one who called the families of the other members to give them the news. The bodies were rescued on January 26 by elements of the State Civil Protection. “Powerful Kombo Kolombia, the creators of the best cumbia on the planet”, it said on the shirts with which they gave their last presentation.

In March 2014 the authorities captured “El Pichilo” and it was not until then that the cause of the massacre was certain. After his arrest, he confessed that Los Zetas had felt betrayed by Kombo Kolombia, since they had also appeared at events financed by the Gulf Cartel.

“According to the detainee, in the beginning they supported them and by virtue of the fact that they were participating in gigs of the antagonistic group (of the Gulf), that’s why they decide to remove them”, explained the state attorney of Nuevo León at that time, Adrián de la Garza.

It was thus, through a “betrayal”, that Los Zetas ended the lives of 17 people and the career of a group that had begun to win the affection of the people.