24 June 2026 , 11:25
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“I’m a drug trafficker from the Northeast, my cartel,” raps El Makabelico. “With my AK-47 slung across my chest, I ride alongside El Komander. My souped-up .38 Super, encrusted with diamonds.”
Those and other lyrics made Ricardo Hernández Medrano, formerly known as El Makabelico, a famous figure in Mexico’s narco-rap scene. Performing behind a ski mask and cultivating an image closely associated with the Northeast Cartel (Cartel del Noreste – CDN), Medrano built a large audience through songs celebrating the group’s leaders, territorial control, and culture of violence.
But his mask didn’t hide him from US authorities. In August 2025, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Medrano for his alleged ties to the CDN, alleging that approximately 50 percent of his streaming revenue was directed to the group and that his concerts and events laundered its criminal profits.
The sanctions formed part of a broader campaign from the United States against the CDN’s leadership and financial networks. Authorities also sanctioned a leader of its alleged second-in-command, Abdon Frederico Rodríguez García, alias “Cucho,” and identified additional senior members of the organization. Earlier in 2025, the US government designated the CDN as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, citing its role in trafficking and territorial control over the Nuevo Laredo border region.
US sanctions against Medrano signaled an acknowledgment of the CDN’s use of music as a source of revenue in addition to propaganda, and are a significant move by the United States to target an artist associated with the historic narco-music genre. The Treasury says his music and public persona helped promote the CDN’s image, glorifying the organization’s leadership and culture of violence.
Today, most of the music under El Makabelico’s name that made him famous has been removed from the major streaming platform. Before the sanctions, he drew more than 5 million monthly listeners on Spotify and had over 2 million subscribers on YouTube. Since his accounts were removed, listeners searching for his music instead found it reappearing under another name—“El Comando Exclusivo.”
El Makabélico emerged from the subgenre of narco-rap that grew from Mexico’s tradition of narcocorridos and adapted it to the aesthetics of border culture and social media. Before his alleged ties to the CDN became public, Medrano performed under the name Nectar Lima, blending regional Mexican sounds with lyrics celebrating drug trafficking and violent criminal governance.
In 2017, he signed with California-based Del Records, one of the most influential labels in regional Mexican music, helping him expand his audience beyond northeastern Mexico and into the United States.
Del Records founder and CEO José Ángel del Villar was sentenced to four years in federal prison in August 2025 after being convicted of violating the US Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act through dealings with a concert promoter allegedly linked to the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG) and Los Cuinis.
El Makabélico’s sanctions soon followed.
Many of his songs open with the tag, “Gunshots rang out; blows were unleashed,” a reference to Hell’s Troop, the CDN’s feared enforcement wing. His lyrics frequently expressed loyalty to the CDN and its command structure, praising senior figures, recounting armed confrontations, and depicting the militarization of organized crime along Mexico’s northeastern border.
Technology & Business Editor