Free Republic

A Mexican folk religion involving human sacrifice and devoted to "Holy Death" is growing in popularity among drug traffickers and violent criminals, prompting Texas officials and the Catholic Church to warn about honoring the so-called "Saint Death." Authorities are speaking out about the religion devoted to La Santa Muerte, which translates to “Holy Death” and "Saint Death," that has gained popularity steadily since the late 1980s among Mexican-American Catholics. “She’s not a saint. There is nothing good that can come out of praying to her,” Sante Fe Archbiship John Wester said in February. “We have a lot of saints who...

A Mexican woman believed to be a witch with cartel ties, was killed after she tried to snatch an 18-month-old out his parents' arms with the stated intent of killing the child as sacrifice to the patron saint of cartels. Before Maria Guadalupe R.M., 33, tried to kidnap the child, she had made it known to her nephew, also the father of the child, that she believed a dead family member had been reincarnated as his son, reported local newspaper Norte Digital. Sunday, she broke into her relatives' Ciudad Juarez home as her nephew slept with his wife and son...

A woman wanted in connection with several brutal, gang-related murders in Mexico was recently arrested inside the United States. On February 15, the combined efforts of the FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force, the El Paso Police Gang Unit, County Sheriff's Narcotics Division, and Border Patrol resulted in victory when agents arrested Mexican fugitive Michelle Angelica Pineda, sometimes referred to as La Chely, in a motel in eastern El Paso, Texas. American and Mexican law enforcement officials believe that Pineda, a Mexican national, crossed the U.S. border illegally as part of a drug-trafficking ring perpetrated by the violent street gang...