Los Tucanes de Tijuana Fined in Chihuahua For Allegedly Singing Narcocorridos

Natalia Cano
·2 min read

Los Tucanes de Tijuana were fined 900,000 pesos (about $50,000) following a performance the Mexican band gave last Thursday (Oct. 5) in the municipality of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico, where they allegedly performed songs in support of drug trafficking.

News of the sanction was reported a day after the show by the government of the municipality of Chihuahua in a press release, which states that the fine was imposed “after having detected blatant musical content that advocates crime in 40 percent of the presentation.”

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The sanction imposed on the popular regional Mexican music group follows a measure announced by the government of the municipality of Chihuahua last July that sanctions corridos tumbados and reggaeton artists who perform songs that promote gender violence [while performing live] in the municipality, under the argument of “guaranteeing the right of women to a life free of violence.”

In the document, the municipal authorities clarified that during their performance, Los Tucanes de Tijuana did not sing music that “promoted violence against women and favored their denigration, discrimination, marginalization or exclusion” within their repertoire. However, the measure includes sanctions for those who perform music related to drug trafficking, as was allegedly the case.

Billboard Español reached out to Los Tucanes de Tijuana’s press office for more information but did not hear back at press time.

The measure, approved by the local council, prohibits musical content, videos, images or any similar material that promotes violence against women and music related to criminal activities or groups, explains the municipal president of Chihuahua, Marco Bonilla, in a video posted on his social networks.

Penalties range from 674,000 pesos (more than $40,000) to 1.244 million pesos (almost $75,000), according to authorities.

This statute previously impacted corridos tumbados star Natanael Cano, who last September was fined 1.2 million pesos (about $71,610) for allegedly “advocating crime and promoting gender violence,” the municipality of Chihuahua announced in a Sept. 23 press release.

The new ban in Chihuahua came after congressmen in several Mexican states pushed for reforms to prohibit concerts of corridos tumbados, arguing that they “incite violence.” It also comes after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador published a playlist to confront this genre, led by artists such as Peso Pluma, Natanael Cano and Junior H.

For 15 years, Los Tucanes de Tijuana were banned from performing in the border city of Tijuana for singing narcocorridos. In 2008, the then head of the municipal police, Lieutenant Colonel Julian Leyzaola Perez, indefinitely banned the group from performing there for allegedly saluting two drug traffickers during a concert. The ban was lifted this year by the mayor of Tijuana, Montserrat Caballero, and on July 8 the group was allowed to perform again in that city.

In 2017, authorities in Chihuahua fined legendary band Los Tigres del Norte for performing narcocorridos live.

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