Tamaulipas

The bodies of four musicians from the band and their manager were discovered on Thursday in Tamaulipas state, four days after the men had been reported missing.

While kidnappings for ransom are not uncommon in violence-wracked Tamaulipas, the way band members were apparently lured to an abandoned lot by their kidnappers with the promise of a gig at a private party and then killed has shocked locals, who held rallies demanding their release.

The Gulf Cartel has its stronghold in Tamaulipas state and engages in the smuggling of drugs and migrants across the US-Mexico border, as well as kidnapping for ransom.

Nine alleged members of the notorious Gulf Cartel have been arrested on suspicion of murder, according to Irving Barrios Mojica, attorney general for the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

It is not immediately clear if the group was targeted because of their music, or were caught up in the violence that has long beset Tamaulipas, where the Gulf Cartel has a strong presence.