6: El Chango
The Mexican Drug Cartel Monkey
Born: c.2021, Presumably Mexico
Died: June 2022, Texcaltitlán, Mexico
The story of El Chango, or El Changuito (depending on the source) went viral after his death. Photos flooded the internet of a small spider monkey wearing a tactical vest and camouflage. The poor little guy evidently belonged to a member of a Mexican drug cartel (the gang is called La Familia Michoacana), and he had been shot and killed by Mexican police.
Evidently the monkey’s owners had attacked a convoy of Mexican police officers. As a result, the police returned fire—killing ten men and the monkey, as well as arresting several others and seizing multiple weapons.
Soon after the monkey’s death, the internet was flooded with both memes and also a song in tribute to him.
Nothing else is known about the monkey, and yet the memes indicate he was born only a year before he died. Rest in peace El Chango, may your memory never fade.
Sources:
https://www.indy100.com/viral/el-chango-monkey-killed-song
https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7bqxz/narco-monkey-shootout-narcocorrido-mexico
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/drug-cartel-monkey-el-changuito
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/22/el-chango-sicario-monkey-mexico-dead/