Reuters AlertNet Lite - Singer abducted in Mexico

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Singer abducted in Mexico - newspapers

04 Dec 2007 01:50:55 GMT
Source: Reuters

MEXICO CITY, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The lead singer of the band K-Paz de la Sierra was abducted in Mexico during the weekend, Mexican newspapers reported on Monday, adding to a growing list of performers victimized in a violent crime wave.

Sergio Gomez, lead singer of the group, and two music promoters were seized by armed men in the western state of Michoacan on Saturday after a show, El Universal and Reforma newspapers said in their online editions.

The promoters were released on Monday but Gomez was still missing, the papers said. State authorities could not confirm that Gomez had been abducted or reports on newspaper web sites and television that he had been killed.

Michoacan, President Felipe Calderon's home state, has made headlines this year for gruesome drug-related violence, as traffickers fight over the best routes to transport drugs north.

K-Paz de la Sierra plays bouncy "Duranguense" music heavy on drums and synthesizers. The band is among a new generation of regional musicians who have gained a strong following in both the United States and Mexico over the last decade.

The band's members are immigrants to the Chicago area from Mexico's Durango state.

Gomez was abducted hours after another lesser-known singer, Zayda Pena, was murdered in the border city of Matamoros.

Pena was shot at her motel and rushed to a hospital for surgery. She was shot a second time in the face inside the hospital by an unknown man and died, local media said.

Calderon launched a military clampdown last year against drug cartels. Some 2,350 people have been killed this year in drug violence in Mexico. (Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz, editing by Patricia Zengerle)

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Last updated:Tue Dec 4 01:53:29 2007