A series of gruesome deaths are being investigated near the Mexican border village of Nacozari. While the three murders do not appear to have been committed by members of drug cartels, in a way they are connected.
Santa Muerte
The deaths were allegedly part of a religious ritual to the figure known as Santa Muerte, or Saint of Death. The cult is widespread in Mexico, where Santa Muerte is known as “a symbol that identifies people who live between the legal and the illegal,” according to one follower’s website. (1) Followers often take part in dark rituals involving human sacrifice because, as the Foreign Military Studies Office explains, the cult could “be described as a set of ritual practices offered on behalf a supernatural personification of death.” (2) Some devotees see their cult as an extension of the Catholic church, where the saint is worshipped on par with or in place of God, but it certainly hasn’t been condoned or recognized by the Catholic church.
The family that has been arrested for the recent homicides is not a part of a drug cartel, and in fact, the village of Nacozari is one of the few areas on the border that has not suffered at the hand of drug traffickers. However, the Santa Muerte cult is closely associated with crime, criminals, and drug cartels.
A Religion of Cartels
Not everyone who is involved with the Santa Muerte worship is a criminal, but it is common for devotees to offer prayers, rituals, and offerings to the saint in return for protection and power, even when committing crimes. Followers will even offer human sacrifices to appease the saint and get her to fulfill their requests. “The Santa Muerte cult is anti-establishment and appears to glorify criminal behavior. Although not all members of the cult are criminals, all live an existence that is dominated by crime. The cult seems to be linked closely to prisons, prisoners, and family members of prisoners. It is also associated with at least two organized criminal groups – the Gulf Cartel and the Mara Salvatrucha. Although it does not appear that most practitioners would commit crimes on behalf of the cult, some criminals might use it as an impetus to commit a crime or to increase the scale and violence of their crimes. Furthermore, because of the inherent danger in crime, the invocation of death itself as patron has a manifest appeal,” said Kevin Freese, of the Foreign Military Studies Office. (1)
There has been much evidence of cartel involvement in the Santa Muerte cult, and it has even been dubbed the religion of cartels. Santa Muerte imaging has been found in cartel leaders’ homes, on tattoos on their bodies, and displayed at crime scenes. Mexican drug cartels have become such a corrupt group that they will stop at nothing to carry on their business. This includes worshipping the Saint of Death by offering sacrifices in order to gain her favor and protection.
Sources
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