Peso Pluma Is Mexico’s Top Music Star and Perhaps Sinaloa’s Greatest Laundromat

The fallout from the leaflets has been swift and chaotic. Peso Pluma’s team has remained tight-lipped, neither confirming nor denying the accusations.

In a scene ripped from the pages of a noir thriller, propaganda leaflets rained down from the sky over Culiacán’s southern neighborhoods last week. The pamphlets accused famed corrido tumbao singer Peso Pluma and several other influencers of laundering money for the notorious Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. The accusations ignited a media firestorm and left many wondering where the line between entertainment, influence, and organized crime truly lies.

A Chilling Warning

The leaflets named Peso Pluma (real name Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija) as one of the cartel's financial collaborators. Alongside him were other well-known figures, including influencer Marcos Eduardo Castro Cárdenas, better known as Markitos Toys, who has previously been linked—directly or indirectly—to cartel-associated violence.

The pamphlets, in bold, menacing language, labeled the individuals as “financiers and collaborators of the lacriza” and warned the public to steer clear of their content and businesses. A direct threat concluded the flyers: “We are coming for each and every one of you.”

This isn’t the first time Peso Pluma has been in the cartel’s crosshairs…