Michoacán Militia Members Say Popular Singer Melissa Is The Daughter Of Knights Templar Drug Lord

Aristegui Noticias reports that members of an autodefensa (or self-defense militia) in the Mexican state of Michoacán have accused the popular Mexican corridor singer Melissa – known as “la princesa de la banda” or “la Barbie grupera” (“the princess of banda music” or “the group Barbie”) for her resemblance to the doll as well as for lyrics which often boast of her unobtainability – of being the daughter of Enrique “El Kike” Plancarte Solís, a high-ranking leader of the Knights Templar drug cartel. Plancarte Solís is one of seven cartel leaders which militia members in the state have demanded federal forces bring to justice before the militias put down their arms.

Last weekend, militias captured property which they say belonged to Plancarte Solís in the town of Nueva Italia, a Knights Templar stronghold. Now, in a post published on the Twitter account Valor por Michoacán (Courage for Michoacán), which area militias use to disseminate information, the militias say that music videos by Melissa and her brother Enrique, Jr. filmed in their “luxurious homes” have recently been taken off of YouTube, and ask for tips in tracking down the siblings’ musical promoters.

El Zocalo de Saltillo notes that among other videos published in the YouTube cannel “Melissa la princesa de la banda”, one belongs to a musical group called “Los de la A”, a norteña group which performs in military attire and appears in the video carrying high-powered weapons. The video’s title refers to a recreation center in Apatzingán, Michoacán, a Knights Templar stronghold. In other videos, the band performs songs like “El corridor de ‘Don Kike’”, dedicated to Plancarte Solís, and others dedicated to Knights Templar leaders like Servando Gómez (“La Tuta”) and Nazario Moreno (“El Chayo”).