Singer L-Gante arrested for threats and kidnapping

A family neighbor accused the cumbia 420 singer of threatening him with a gun

Cumbia singer L-Gante, whose real name is Elián Ángel Valenzuela, was arrested today in a gated community in Francisco Álvarez, Buenos Aires province, after a man accused him of making threats with a firearm and illegal deprivation of liberty.

Gastón Torres, a neighbor of L-Gante’s family in the town of General Rodríguez, Buenos Aires province, testified before prosecutor Alejandra Rodríguez that he had argued in a nightclub with a group of the singer’s friends known as “the Mafily” (la Mafilia – the wordplay works in both languages).

Torres claims that after the quarrel, members of the Mafily went to his house and assaulted him and his family. Members of the Urban Guard arrived at the scene to break up the fight and identify the aggressors. When they left, L-Gante allegedly threatened Torres with a firearm, forced him into a car, and told him he should not speak against the “Mafily.”

After Torres filed the complaint, prosecutor Rodríguez took statements from the victims and witnesses, requested security camera footage, and ordered Valenzuela’s arrest. Judge Gabriel Castro granted the request and ordered four raids, one of them in the Club Banco Provincia closed neighborhood.

L-Gante was arrested shortly after 3:00 p.m.

The singer is also awaiting trial in another case, in which he was accused of making death threats and injuring a neighbor in General Rodríguez.

L-Gante is one of the most popular artists of the “cumbia 420” genre, a mixture of cumbia, trap, and reggaeton whose songs often focus on cannabis culture. Born in General Rodríguez, the singer rose to fame in 2020 with “L-Gante Rkt” in collaboration with Papu DJ. A year later his popularity grew further after his collaboration with Bizarrap.

A ubiquitous figure of the national urban music scene, in February last year more than 45,000 people went to see him at a free show at Tecnópolis. Months later, in November, he performed at Primavera Sound festival, together with the legendary cumbia band Damas Gratis.

-Télam

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