Mexican influencer shot dead during TikTok livestream

xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoCandles sit near the spot where Cesar Gastelum was killed in Culiacan, Mexico [Aaron Ibarra/AP]By Al Jazeera Staff and APPublished On 5 Aug 20265 Aug 2026A Mexican social media influencer with 650,000 followers on TikTok has been killed while he was doing a livestream, authorities have said.

Cesar Gastelum was shot dead on Tuesday in Culiacan, the capital of Mexico’s volatile Sinaloa state. The shooting took place near the local prosecutor’s office.

A video of the moment of Gastelum’s death, seen by The Associated Press news agency, shows him laughing with two other men in the car park of a Kentucky Fried Chicken when two men pull up on a motorcycle. One is seen pulling out a gun and shooting Gastelum. The attackers then flee the scene.

Sinaloa has been ravaged by warring between two factions, Los Mayos and Los Chapitos, of the Sinaloa Cartel in recent years, with dead bodies left across the city marked with either faction’s signature.

“We must find out why this deplorable homicide occurred,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told journalists during a Wednesday morning news conference.

“Perpetrators must be arrested,” she added.

Gastelum posted content in which he would refer to himself as “belico”, a term often used in subcultures in Mexico to imply a connection to cartel culture.

Mexico’s security cabinet and local prosecutors said an investigation was ongoing and that it appeared Gastelum had released some videos in which he “alluded to a faction of a criminal group”.

In May 2025, 23-year-old beauty influencer Valeria Marquez was also shot dead while livestreaming on TikTok, in the central state of Jalisco.

Soon after, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against five leaders of a Mexican drug cartel, including the prime suspect in Marquez’s murder.

The sanctions targeted the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which the administration of US President Donald Trump says is responsible for a significant share of fentanyl and other illegal drugs entering the US.

The cartel is led by Nemesio Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, who was among the five leaders named. US authorities have offered a $15m reward for information leading to his capture.

A cartel commander closely linked to him, Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, was also sanctioned. The US Treasury Department said that he was the prime suspect in the murder of Marquez, whom they identified as his alleged romantic partner.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced rewards of up to $102m for information leading to the arrest or conviction of eight CJNG leaders.