It is a phenomenon that some experts have attributed to possible links between content creators and criminal organizations, as well as the ongoing clashes between different factions of Sinaloa cartel. Federal authorities in Mexico have opened investigations to determine whether Gastélum and Márquez’s killings are related to drug cartels. In Gastélum’s case, they are reviewing posts in which he referenced a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. A rise in influencer killingsThere is no official record of how many influencers have been killed in Mexico. Mexican authorities have not reported whether any of the Sinaloa influencers killed in the past two years were under investigation for possible links to criminal groups.