Sergio "El Shaka" Vega Murdered Hours After Denying Reports of His Death

NEW YORK (CBS) Sergio "El Shaka" Vega, a Mexican musician famous for his songs about drug barons, was murdered Saturday night while driving in his red Cadillac to a concert in Sinaloa state in northwest Mexico.

Only hours before the attack, the 40-year-old Mexican singer had publicly denied rumors that he had been murdered, reports the BBC.

"It's happened to me for years now, someone tells a radio station or a newspaper I've been killed, or suffered an accident," Mr Vega told entertainment website La Oreja according to the BBC.

"And then I have to call my dear mum, who has heart trouble, to reassure her," he told the site, and said that he had previously increased his security.

Despite that increase, the musician was gunned down by unknown men who were following him while he was en route to his concert, says the BBC.

The BBC reports that according to the passenger's accounts to the newspaper El Debate, shots were fired from the truck at Vega's car. One of the bullets struck and injured "El Shaka," rendering him unable to drive. The vehicle crashed and, as Vega lay clinging to life, the gunmen "finished Mr. Vega off" with shots to the head and chest.

According to the BBC, Vega's songs, called "narcocorridos," celebrate the lives of drug barons, and as a result may have made him a target for rival drug gangs.

Police have not apprehended the gunmen.