The saga of Mexican musician murders continues as authorities confirm the body of 26 year-old singer Jesus Rey David Alfaro Pulido, aka “El Gallito,” was one of six found last week outside Tijuana:

Alfaro, a regular act at Tijuana’s biggest bars and music halls, was found covered in a blanket in wasteland on the edge of the city with rope marks around his neck, suggesting he was tortured before he was shot in the head, the attorney general’s office said.

Drug hitmen pinned a message on his body saying “You’ll be next,” a taunt aimed at the thousands of soldiers sent by President Felipe Calderon to Tijuana to crush the drug gangs and clean up police forces working with the cartels.

Tijuana’s main drug smuggling cartel […] is fighting a gory turf war with traffickers from Mexico’s Pacific state of Sinaloa, led by the country’s most-wanted man, Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman.

Alfaro’s manager, Israel Flores, and his assistant, Jose Guadalupe Topete, were also among the dead. No arrests have been made.

Mexican drug hitmen kill singer near U.S. border [Reuters]
Mexican Singer Found Tortured, Shot [Associated Press]