The 22-year-old influencer was found dead with signs of torture on his body just hours after a drugs cartel dropped leaflets from a plane accusing him of working with a rival gang
A popular YouTube star has been found dead with his hands and feet bound after suffering hours of torture.
Police suspect that a hitman linked to the powerful Sinaloa drugs cartel in Mexico is behind the brutal killing of 22-year-old influencer ‘El Pinky’, whose real name is Agustín Paul. Footage circulating online shortly after his death showed him bruised and injured. In the clip, which the Mirror has chosen not to show, El Pinky is interrogated by a Mexican cartel and accused of collaborating with a rival gang ‘La Mayiza’.
Just hours before the murder, leaflets bearing El Pinky’s name were dropped from an aircraft over the city of Culiacán, accusing him of working with a rival cartel. The YouTube star, who had thousands of followers on his channel Los Plebes de Barrancos, was discovered dead with a gunshot wound to the head on January 10 in Culiacán city, northwest Mexico.
The leaflets alleged El Pinky had laundered money for La Mayiza, a rival gang. Investigators are treating the case as a premeditated murder allegedly carried out by the Sinaloa cartel, a drugs gang once controlled by notorious drug lord El Chapo. They are believed to have been responsible for dropping the leaflets, reports the Daily Star.
Other YouTubers with large followings were also named on leaflets dropped around Culiacán city on January 9. This included ‘Dos Dias’ artist Peso Pluma and YouTuber Markitos Toys.
Police are now probing potential motives behind El Pinky’s murder, with his YouTube content being considered as a possible factor. Known for posting viral challenges and humorous videos to his 98,000 subscribers on his channel ‘Los Plebes de Barrancos’, El Pinky’s significant online presence may have drawn unwanted attention from the cartel.
It comes after YouTuber Miguel ‘El Jasper’ Vivanco was also found dead in Sinaloa last year. According to his family, cartel hitmen abducted El Jasper from his home two nights before his bullet-riddled body was discovered in November 2024. Both El Jasper and El Pinky were tortured before their murders, leading to speculation that Mexican cartels could be responsible for their deaths.
Recent months have seen a surge in violence between rival cartel organisations in Mexico, where authorities have repeatedly attempted crackdowns on organised crime. Mexican drugs cartels first rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s, dominating the production and distribution of the illicit drug trade across the country and beyond its borders.