Grenades sold to undercover authorities overshadow human bones found at San Juan property

SAN JUAN — Federal authorities arrested a 38-year-old man on felony weapons charges at a house where investigators said he manufactured scores of grenades and performed occult ceremonies with human bones.

Ruben Ambrosio Fonseca Jr. had his initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Thursday after undercover agents posing as drug cartel members purchased 183 grenades from him that he allegedly manufactured at a San Juan house, law enforcement officials said.

Federal agents and the San Juan police SWAT team raided the property Wednesday morning, finding weapons, firearms and a blood-stained altar alongside human and animal bones in the backyard.

Three others could face charges alongside Fonseca, who “was the big player, the one putting everything together,” a law enforcement official said.

The grenades were designed as improvised explosive devices, meaning there is no set time between when they are activated and when they would explode, authorities said.

The bones — presumably used in occult ceremonies — were legally purchased via a Web site. Pathologists continue to investigate the skeletal remains.

Appraisal records indicate Ruben Fonseca Sr. owns the raided property at 610 W. Citrus St., San Juan.

In a telephone interview, the elder Fonseca denied that he owns the Citrus Street property and said that he knew little of what transpires at the house. He said investigators seized BB guns from the residence that “look like real guns” and that authorities have little evidence in the case.

The elder Fonseca said he went to court Thursday, but would say nothing of his son facing federal weapons charges.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “They made a big hassle.”

Meanwhile, police said the bones found at the house were obtained from Skulls Unlimited International, an Oklahoma City-based retailer of skeletal remains.

San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said pathologists continue to investigate the human bones but do not anticipate filing criminal charges against anyone in connection with their discovery.

Police confirmed Thursday that a resident at the house had purchased a catalog and the bones from Skulls Unlimited and that they believe the human bones came from the company.

Jay Villemarette, owner and president of the bone retailer, said most of his company’s business — about 90 percent or more — comes from the educational community. Still, his company sells bones to anyone who wants to purchase them.

“There’s no rules or regulations that prohibit us from selling to the public,” he said.

Investigators found the remains of several dogs Thursday morning buried in the house's backyard, as well.

They believe the residents at the house had been worshipping Santa Muerte, Spanish for the Death Saint, and were adherents of Palo Mayombe, a form of black magic that incorporates skeletal remains and animal sacrifice.

Anthropologist Tony Zavaleta, who currently serves as vice president for external affairs at the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, has described Palo Mayombe as a “first cousin” of Santería and said it “requires a blood sacrifice, generally a chicken or goat.” Both religions have Afro-Caribbean origins and their own sets of rituals and initiation rites.

Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo, the ringleader of a drug gang, infamously brought attention to Palo Mayombe two decades ago when Mexican authorities discovered mass graves at Rancho Santa Elena, west of Matamoros. Fifteen bodies were ultimately uncovered. Some of the victims had been killed in the conduct of the drug trade. Others, like that of Mark J. Kilroy — a 21-year-old student kidnapped and killed during a spring break excursion — were randomly selected and sacrificed in occult rituals.

“It’s all mixed together,” Police Chief Gonzalez said of the Santa Muerte and Palo Mayombe being practiced in the San Juan case.

A police badge found at the property belonged to a former Rio Grande City officer who has been located alive and well, Gonzalez said.

After finding the bones, police have treated their investigation as a homicide case, but with the revelation of the bones being purchased via the Web, it appears unlikely anyone was harmed, the chief said.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives launched the investigation at the house alongside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Further details about the investigation are expected to be revealed today, ATF spokeswoman Franceska Perot said.

San Juan police launched their own investigation into the possibility that the remains found at the property were human. A U.S. Border Patrol cadaver dog helped locate the remains.

Skulls Unlimited sells a variety of skeletal remains — animal and human — and gets its inventory from “wherever we can get a legal supply,” business owner Villemarette said. Animal skeletons usually come from hunters, trappers and road kills.

Despite the more than 7 billion humans that populate the world, “human remains are in high in demand but not very plentiful,” said Villemarette, who founded his company in 1986. Most human skeletons he sells come from educational collections, or Asia, depending on cultural traditions on honoring the dead.

“Every culture is different,” Villemarette said, adding that in Western culture, “it would be taboo to sell grandma.”

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.