‘Narcocorrido’ singer shot in Mexico City

This June 10, 2015 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows 16 packages of methamphetamine and heroin found in a car being driven by two Mexican nationals at the U.S.-Mexico border port of entry in Nogales, Arizona. So-called Narcocorrido artists have been singing about the exploits and lives of Mexican drug traffickers and kingpins. AP

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — The lead singer of a Mexican folk band famous for its “narco ballads” about drug trafficking was shot Saturday in an upscale Mexico City neighborhood, the city prosecutor’s office said.

Alan Ramirez is the latest “narcocorrido” artist to be attacked or killed in recent years, but the first victim of such violence in the swanky neighborhood of Polanco.

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“Our dear companion is recovering,” tweeted his band, Banda MS, which gave concerts Thursday and Friday at the National Auditorium in Polanco, the capital’s top venue that holds 10,000 people.

The “narcocorrido” genre, created in the northwest Mexican state of Sinaloa — home of kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman — draws inspiration from the exploits of drug traffickers. It has gained increasing popularity in the southwest United States and northern Mexico.

Mexico City’s attorney general has opened an investigation into the attack on Ramirez, the frontman of Banda MS.

The shooting occurred early Saturday morning outside a Polanco hotel. Ramirez was taken to a nearby private hospital and no arrests have been made, said the prosecutor’s office, which released no further details.

Another performance had been scheduled for Saturday.

One of the band’s most popular songs, “Aguila Blanca” (“White Eagle”) details the capture of a drug gang at a police checkpoint.

In December 2015 the Mexican singer Nain Alvarez was shot dead in the Sinaloa capital Culiacan after releasing a song about drug kingpins.