Mexico cancels narco-song concert for glorifying drug trade

MEXICO CITY – Authorities in the northern Mexico border state of Tamaulipas have cancelled a concert by singer Alfredo Rios, known as El Komander, on the grounds it might glorify drug traffickers.

Rios is among a new generation of singers known as the “altered movement” who sing explicit ballads about the realities of drug trafficking and uncontrolled violence.

Tamaulipas state security spokesman Luis Alberto Rodriguez says that “there were not sufficient conditions of security to carry out the event.” He also cites a state law that punishes glorifying or promoting crime.

Rodriguez did not mention specific details, but promoters had posted announcements about a show to be headlined by El Komander on Saturday in the city of Tampico.

Tamaulipas has been one of the states hardest hit by bloody drug gang turf battles.