AFP
HERMOSILLO
An American singer of narco-corridos - a musical genre extolling the glories of the drug trade - has been fatally shot in a northern Mexican town, officials said Friday.
Tomas Eduardo Tovar, 33, was gunned down late Thursday while dining at a restaurant in Ciudad Obregon, in Sonora state, according to law enforcement officials. Tovar, who performed under the stage name Tito Torbellino, was killed by two gunmen who stormed into the establishment firing multiple rounds. A native of the US state of Arizona, Tovar died en route to the hospital, local authorities said. Narco-corridos recount in song the life and death of drug kingpins and are performed to a polka-like beat driven by accordions, guitars, drums and tubas. The genre has gained many fans in the Spanish speaking world, particularly among inhabitants along both sides of the US-Mexico border. Mexican officials have said several dozen narco-corrido performers have been murdered since a surge in drug violence in 2006.