'Narco-saint' Jesus Malverde gets shrine in Mexico City

Houston Chronicle ^ | Jan. 23, 2007 | MARK STEVENSON

[SwinneySwitch]

MEXICO CITY — Prison cells are decorated with his image. Drug traffickers carry symbols of him. Now, he has a shrine in Mexico City.

Jesus Malverde, a legendary crime figure revered as a saint by many of the country's drug traffickers, has received plenty worshippers since the shrine went up in the capital's rough Doctores neighborhood, said Maria Alicia Pulido Sanchez, a housewife who built it two months ago.

Accounts of the true life of Malverde differ, with some saying he was a railway or construction worker who became a bandit before being hanged in Culiacan in 1909. Admirers say he robbed from the rich to give to the poor. Critics say he has become a symbol of crime.

The so-called "narco-saint" already had a shrine in the city of Culiacan in northern Sinaloa state, considered the cradle of Mexico's top drug clans.

Pulido Sanchez said she built her shrine because Malverde helped poor people.

"He wasn't a drug trafficker. He was what you might call a thief, but he helped his community," Pulido Sanchez said Monday.

The life-size mannequin wears Malverde's trademark neckerchief, a gold chain with a bejeweled pistol charm and a huge belt buckle with a gun motif.

The figure's pockets are stuffed with dollar bills, which Pulido Sanchez says have been donated by worshippers since she erected the shrine in November. They also leave candy, cigarettes and glasses of wine.

Malverde is not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, but Pulido Sanchez says that doesn't matter.

"We make saints by the power of our belief," she said. "We can believe in anyone who fulfills our petitions."

She says lawyers, policemen and "men with big bunches of jewelry" visit the shrine, as well as housewives, secretaries "and people from every walk of life."

Pulido Sanchez said she was inspired to build the shrine after her son Marcos Abel recovered from injuries he suffered in a December 2005 car crash in just three days when she prayed to a Malverde statue a friend had given her.

[SwinneySwitch]

I hear that most US hispanic drug dealers have a statue or other symbol of "San Malverde" around for good luck.

[RedRover]

At least they're not going muzzie.

[MplsSteve]

After reading an article like this, two things come to mind....

1. If there was never a good reason to build a fence along the US-Mexico border, there certainly is now!

2. It's this type of idol worship that perfectly validates why Mexico is (and will continue to be) a third world country.

[SwinneySwitch]

Traficantes Ping!

If you want on or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepmail me.

[Rakkasan1]

the poor drug mules are just doing the Lord's work(jobs Americans are unwilling to do)bringing pot to dying cancer patients...
and here I thought their patron saint was the Benjamin.

[farlander]

Hard to be a drug dealer and a muslim (at least as the fundamentalist thing is concerned). Most muslim countries chop heads off for trafficking.

[RedRover]

I thought trafficking was fine but using was not. (My error.)

[2banana]

Hard to be a drug dealer and a muslim (at least as the fundamentalist thing is concerned). Most muslim countries chop heads off for trafficking.

WRONGO! Muslims only take offense to muslim drug dealers when they sell drugs to fellow mulsims. If they are selling to infidels or exporting to infidel countries - they actually support it...

[I_Publius]

http://static.flickr.com/43/89086189_dbcdc70762.jpg

Here's a great photo of the "saint."

[gcruse]

" It's this type of idol worship that perfectly validates why Mexico is (and will continue to be) a third world country."

Amen, pilgrim. If it's not an oil slick, streaked window, or piece of toast, it's from Satan and not to be worshipped.

[jordan8]

Pakistan has one of the worst opiate problems in the world, and smoking opium and hashish is common in Afghanistan and other Muslim countries.

Opiate abuse is a serious problem. Its annual abuse in Pakistan is estimated at 0.8 percent of the population aged between 15 and 64. Pakistan and Iran - the two major transit countries for Afghan opiates - have the highest prevalence rates (2.8 percent) in the region. Other countries neighbouring Afghanistan have estimated prevalence rates of under 0.5 percent. The National Drug Abuse Assessment Study 2000 indicates that there are 500,000 hardcore heroin users in Pakistan. Of these, 60,000 inject heroin.

According to the study, cannabis type drugs (hashish and charas) are the most commonly used drugs in the urban and rural areas, followed by heroin and alcohol. The reportedly increased use of cannabis, heroin and alcohol should not distract from the fact that worryingly levels of other types of drug abuse were also reported. It is particularly a cause for concern that 9 percent of the respondents report the use of other opiates as common and that 20 percent report psychotropic substances as commonly used.

[jordan8]

An estimated 15.3 million people, or 0.4 percent of the world population ages 15 to 64, used illicit opioids in 2002, with more than half using heroin and the rest using opium or diverted pharmaceuticals such as buprenorphine, methadone, or morphine.

[farlander]

Yea I know. I did say 'most'.

[Between the Lines]

I hear that most US hispanic drug dealers have a statue or other symbol of "San Malverde" around for good luck.

Police have estimated that about 80% of Mexican nationals involved in the drug trade possess at least one likeness of Jesus Malverde: such as on a prayer card, a candle, or a statue. Police often look for these types of items to see if a person is involved in the drug trade.