Stash-house Faith: Local authorities note rise in signs of drug traffickers' mysticism

Flowers, candles, perfumes and a teddy bear had been placed around the robed statue in a show of devotion.

But despite the altar to the Santa Muerte, or Holy Death, authorities seized more than 7,000 pounds of marijuana from the home.

Investigators say they’re finding more and more items related to the Santa Muerte — and to other forms of witchcraft — as they work narcotics operations.

Recently, police searching a stash house in San Juan found a charm perched atop 90 pounds of bundled marijuana: a leather amulet dedicated to the Santa Muerte.

“It seems that in the last two, maybe three years, we’ve been coming across more and more of what is known as protection altars,” Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said. “Drug smugglers erect these altars to some kind of saint or deity, typically to the Santa Muerte or to Malverde, for protection from police or from rival groups.”

Malverde was a Mexican bandit reminiscent of Robin Hood. He has been embraced by certain practitioners who believe he helps them in their endeavors.

In the altars, authorities occasionally find the names of the agency or the rival that the smugglers want protection from, Treviño said.

SANTA MUERTE,
OTHER SAINTS

The belief in magical or supernatural entities that provide protection is deeply rooted in the Latino culture, said Antonio Zavaleta, an anthropologist who has published various books on belief systems and the occult.

The Latino culture has a deeply rooted belief in saints who are believed to have certain powers over certain situations, Zavaleta said. The belief in witchcraft also has been present in the Mexican culture for generations, and that belief is passed down from parent to child.

Belief in the Santa Muerte — though different from witchcraft — is passed down similarly, Zavaleta said.

“Witchcraft is a practice where someone goes to a practitioner or a witch to cast a spell in favor of something or against something else, such as law enforcement, in this case,” he said.

Believers will call on a saint when they need help for a specific situation, Zavaleta said. St. Jude, for example, is believed to offer assistance in difficult causes.

The Santa Muerte falls into the category of Folk Saints, which — despite a devout following — are not accepted by the Catholic Church.

“The belief in the Santa Muerte is pretty recent,” Zavaleta said. “It began about 30 years or so” ago before moving north to the border.

OLD BELIEFS

Drug dealers believing in the supernatural is nothing new.

In 1989, Matamoros was thrown into the spotlight when authorities discovered mass graves on a ranch on the city’s outskirts. The graves at Rancho Santa Elena belonged to victims of a blood sacrifice — led by Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo — meant to grant the drug dealers special powers, including invisibility and immunity to police.

One of those victims was kidnapped U.S. spring breaker Mark Kilroy.

Constanzo used elements of an Afro-Caribbean religion called Palo Mayombe and corrupted it to meet his needs, Zavaleta said.

GROWING APPEAL?

Although local authorities are finding more altars and other witchcraft paraphernalia, Zavaleta’s research points less to an increase in believers and more to a relocation of them.

As more and more immigrants move to the Rio Grande Valley and further north, they bring their beliefs along with them. Drug smugglers likewise bring their practices along as they move north to further their business, Zavaleta said.

Another factor augmenting the appearance of a bigger base of believers: Practitioners have gone mainstream, turning the skeletal saint into a fashion icon and a household name.

Santa Muerte clothing and jewelry can be found easily in most flea markets; believers and nonbelievers follow the trend.

Practitioners of Santa Muerte rituals also have taken a Hollywood-esque approach as they seek more followers.

“There is so much money involved in the whole narcotics business that those who believe in the occult will seek out the most potent and effective practitioners and pay amounts of money,” Zavaleta said. “Practitioners have become (crazy) and began a whole spiritual theater.

“They dress up in costumes and engage in theatrics, song and dances all to impress the people who are paying them.”

However, the money comes with a price since they are walking a thin line where failure many times means death, he said.

TRAFFIC STOPS

Noting the prevalence of supernatural beliefs among smugglers, law enforcement agencies nationwide have sought expert training in the intricacies of the belief systems. The goal: to catch more criminals.

Many times the vehicles seized at a drug operation will bear a sticker of the Muerte — not that authorities view the emblems as bull’s-eyes.

“When an officer is conducting a traffic stop, it is because they have probable cause and a traffic violation on a vehicle that is commonly used — or may be used — to move drugs,” Treviño said. “The vehicle may have a sticker or not; however a trained eye looks to see if the vehicle has been specially outfitted — or (for) other indicators that the vehicle is loaded with narcotics.”

While the belief in the supernatural smugglers has taken various forms in the Valley — whether witchcraft, Santa Muerte or Palo Mayombe — authorities have one message for believers.

“Obviously it doesn’t’ work,” Treviño said.

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Ildefonso Ortiz covers law enformcent and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4437.