Electronic music and pink cocaine mix in theories about the deaths of B-King and Regio Clown in Mexico

Colombian singer Bayron Sánchez, better known as B-King, saw his trip to Mexico as an opportunity to relaunch his career after a bumpy ride through the urban genre of reggaeton. It was his compatriot, Cali-born DJ Jorge Luis Herrera—Regio Clown, by his stage name—who invited him from Medellín to join him on September 14 at the “Sin Censura. Independence Day” event. Two days later, tragedy struck. After being missing for a week, both were found dismembered on September 22 in the State of Mexico. The case has left a trail of speculation about what happened in the double murder of the artists and whether organized crime is involved. The latest thread points to a link between the electronic music scene and the drug trade of tusi, a luxury drug more popularly known as pink cocaine.

In a video circulating online, B-King looked in the mirror and encouraged himself on the eve of his performance in Mexico City. “This is the night. The first concert in Mexico. We’re going to break it. We’re going all out in the name of Jesus of the Armies,” he can be heard saying in the recording. A person at the party stated that they all seemed happy after the performance: “He was a cute kid [Sánchez] eager to grow in music, just like Regio.”

For B-King’s close circle of friends in Medellín, the singer died because “he was in the wrong place.” This is how Daniel Moreno, known as DJ Pimo, tells it. He was friends with Sánchez since he was a teenager. Sánchez mixed music for him when he began his musical curiosity about 17 years ago. “We rehearsed at my house. We went to schools, to radio stations, doing promotion. That was alongside Maluma. I mean, Maluma sang and we sang.” Then, his career stalled for a while because the sponsorship dried up, Moreno says.

A Warning to Regio Clown

The theory of the musician’s friends, on the other hand, points to Regio Clown. They say they don’t know him, and barely know anything about him, based on what the media reports. However, Moreno says that the information they have, for which there is still no judicial evidence, is that Regio Clown also sold tusi, a synthetic drug known as pink powder that has become especially popular at auctions or electronic music parties. “He [Regio Clown] had already been warned not to sell in the Polanco area, in certain places, that it is controlled by Mexican mafias, and it seems the man ignored it.” Those close to him believed it was likely retaliation against the Cali native, with the unfortunate news that B-King was also there.

According to reports, the last known record of the two musicians was at a SmartFit gym on September 16, located in the wealthy Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City. According to Mexico City prosecutor Bertha María Alcalde, B-King and Regio Clown were not kidnapped, as previously believed, and left for the State of Mexico of their own free will.