The influencer victims of ruthless cartels: How aspiring Instagram and TikTok stars have met gruesome ends after being caught up in Central America’s bloodthirsty drug gang underworld

With private jets, luxury hotels and Michelin-starred meals woven into the fabric of an influencer’s everyday life it’s easy to feel a pang of envy.

But, behind the shimmering social media façade lies a darker reality marred by deceit danger, and brutal killings.

Lately, headlines have been plagued by the chilling stories of influencers who met gruesome ends after being caught up in Central America’s drug gang underworld.

Just last week Mexican beauty influencer Valeria Marquez was gunned down while livestreaming to her followers. 

And last year, Ecuadorian influencer Landy Párraga was assassinated after her Instagram post of a plate of octopus ceviche led gunmen to the restaurant where she was dining.

Meanwhile, back in 2023 Mexican content creator ‘Keilanny Boo’ was shot dead in what’s believed to be a cartel-related hit.

Tragically, although once renowned for their engaging online presence, these young women are now remembered as victims caught in the crosshairs of a world where fame and beauty fatally collide. 

Influencer murdered on livestream

A Mexican beauty influencer was brutally murdered while live streaming to her followers after a motorbike-riding gunman opened fire on her salon on May 13.

Footage shows the horrific moment 23-year-old TikToker and aesthetician Valeria Marquez was shot multiple times while broadcasting live from inside her beauty salon, Blossom the Beauty Lounge, in the western Mexican state of Jalisco.

The video shows a smiling Valeria looking out of the window momentarily before bullets strike her once in the chest and twice in the head.

The influencer appears to place a hand over the gunshot wound near her ribcage before dropping dead.

An unknown woman then appears in the clip, seemingly turning off the video.

Initial reports said that a gunman entered her salon and shot her before fleeing on a motorbike.

Paramedics rushed to the bloody scene, but Valeria was pronounced dead immediately.

Police are currently investigating Valeria’s murder and have cordoned off the salon, while a manhunt is underway.

The influencer-  known for sharing beauty and lifestyle videos with her 110,000 TikTok followers – had allegedly been in a relationship with a notorious cartel hitman accused of killing another beauty queen.

A feared cartel leader named ‘Doble R’ has been identified as the prime suspect in Valeria’s murder, Mexican newspaper El Heraldo reported.

Socal media reports suggest that he had been in a relationship with the TikToker for several months and became enraged over her receiving expensive gifts from online followers.

He is said to be involved with a violent faction of the Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel – considered to be one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organisations.

‘Doble R’ has a long criminal history dating back to 2012, including the alleged involvement in the murder of Venezuelan model Daisy Ferrer Arenas, whose body was found in a sewage canal in Guadalajara.

He is also accused of ordering the murder of another influencer, Juan Luis Lagunas, known as ‘El Pirata de Culiacan,’ who insulted CJNG boss Nemesio Oseguera in a viral video.

Just hours before she was murdered inside her salon, Valeria revealed during a livestream that a masked courier had tried to deliver her an expensive gift earlier that day.

‘Maybe they were going to kill me or something,’ the influencer told her followers.

Valeria had also previously claimed that she was being threatened, claiming that her ex-boyfriend should be held ‘responsible for anything that happens to me and my family.’

In another clip filmed in the moments before her death, Valeria reflected on the recent changes she had made in her life, saying: ‘I’ve changed. I don’t go out anymore, I don’t drink anymore, I’ve stopped being around thugs, I’m a good girl.’

Police are investigating Valeria’s murder under Mexico’s femicide protocol, with her senseless killing being just another example of the high levels of gender-based violence in the Latin American state.

Mexico has long been plagued by ‘machismo’ and violence against women, which can range from comments on the street to, in its most extreme form, acid attacks and brutal slayings of women.

Killers track influencer from social media post 

Ecuadorian police believe a social media post by beauty queen Landy Párraga Goyburo, 23, showing her plate of octopus ceviche gave cartel hitmen her location so they could murder her.

The former Miss Ecuador contestant was gunned down last year in Quevedo, a short time after she shared details of her final meal to millions of followers on social media.

The killers were believed to have been hired by the widow of a cartel boss who had an affair with Ms Párraga Goyburo before his violent death in prison.

Shocking footage of the murder shows the gunmen approach the table where Ms Párraga Goyburo and a male companion were eating before shooting her repeatedly at point-blank range.

The first masked attacker quickly opens fire, shooting towards both Párraga and the man, before firing another round of bullets at the woman as she lays on the ground.

The second attacker stays on guard by the restaurant door.

Both armed assailants then flee the scene, dashing out of the door and onto the street after carrying out their murder in broad daylight.

The former model can be seen lying motionless on the floor in a pool of her own blood, with a bullet mark visible on her right thigh.

Influencer shot dead by drugs cartel 

A Mexican Instagram influencer who once posted a photo of herself posing with a gun was shot dead in a suspected drug cartel murder in 2019.

Influencer ‘Keilanny Boo’, had more than 59,000 followers on Instagram and 136,000 followers on Facebook .

Investigators say the influencer was shot to death in a bar in the municipality of Nezahualcoyotl, near Mexico City.

The woman was killed by members of the drug cartel La Union Tepito, with whom she reportedly had links, according to reports.

Reports from the prosecution suggest the influencer may have belonged to the cartel.

The influencer would often post photos flaunting her luxury lifestyle, with images showing her behind the wheel of a BMW and stepping into a Ford Mustang.

‘TikTok Narco Queen’ killed in broad daylight 

A drug dealer known as the ‘TikTok Narco Queen’ was executed in broad daylight in Chile in 2023.

Chilling video recorded by a bystander showed Sabrina Durán, 24, lying face down in the middle of a street in Santiago on Tuesday morning after being shot by a masked assailant.

Durán, a mother-of-one, was on her way to a nail salon when she was stopped by three men in the Santiago town of Padre Hurtado, local news outlets reported.

 In the footage Durán is already seen laying on the ground trying to get up when a gunman steps forward and fires multiple shots before using her vehicle to escape.

No motive has been provided by the Chilean police, although sources with knowledge of the investigation said the chilling murder was linked to ‘settling scores.’ No other information about who or why was provided.

Authorities found Durán’s vehicle in flames in the town of Quilicura.

‘We are expanding the field of investigation to see if there are more motivating (factors),’ police major Leonel Muñoz told reporters.

Durán was arrested in 2022 on charges that she was the leader of a local drug gang and was sentenced to three years for drug trafficking.

She attempted to escape prison by jumping from the third floor with other inmates before they were all captured.

Durán amassed more than 467,000 followers on TikTok, where she’s been promoting beauty products since 2021. 

Tourist dies after being caught in cross fire

Anjali Ryot – a 25-year-old California resident who shared her globe-trotting experiences on social media – was among the two women shot dead when gunmen chasing a drug dealer opened fire at a bar in Tulum.

 Ryot, of San Jose, was at the La Malquerida bar in 2021 when she and 35-year-old Jennifer Henzold, of Germany, were trapped in the middle of a dispute between the assailants and a rival drug dealer.

Ryot was declared dead at the scene by paramedics. Henzold was rushed to an area hospital, where she died.

The shooting also wounded two German males, aged 26 and 25, and a 21-year-old woman from the Netherlands.

A native of India, Ryot arrived at the popular Mexican resort town on Monday ahead of her birthday – she would have turned 26 on Friday.

Just hours before the tragic shooting, she took to her Instagram account to share a video of her walking near a platform at the Cielo Maya hotel and resting on a hammock.

Ryot had been working as a senior site reliability engineer with LinkedIn since July. She had previously been employed by Yahoo, where she spent five years working as a site reliability engineer and service engineer.

The German government warned travelers in Tulum and Playa del Carmen not to step out of their hotels and to only use taxi companies based out of the airport or any which were recommended by the hotels while traveling to and from and airport.

According to the travel warning, ‘rental cars have also been robbed there lately and sometimes with the use of gun violence.’