Free Republic

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...

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 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...

Tultitlan (Mexico) (AFP) - Two weeks after baptizing her at a Catholic church, baby Adriana's parents put her in a white gown again for a second sacrament: This time, with Mexico's skeletal "Death Saint."As they held the sleepy three-month-old child, a priestess sprinkled holy water infused with rose petals on her in front of 300 people under a 22-meter (72-foot) statue of the Grim Reaper-like "Santa Muerte" in a Mexico City suburb. When Pope Francis arrives in Mexico for a five-day visit on Friday, he will find a country where devotion to Santa Muerte is growing fast despite the Vatican's...

BROWNSVILLE - Matamoros residents are worried that more violence may spark after the destruction of Santa Muerte altars throughout the city. The residents said Matamoros' new mayor ordered the demolitions, but there is no official word from authorities to back up those claims. "They've taken down too many altars of the Santísima Muerte," Matamoros resident Daniel Hernandez said. The Catholic Church does not recognize the folk saint. It is commonly revered by those involved in criminal activities. "Taking them down is a bad idea on the mayor's part. Everyone has their own religion," Hernandez said. Still, Hernandez supports the change....

HERMOSILLO, MEXICO -- Mexican prosecutors have formally charged eight people in the grisly cult slayings of two 10-year-old boys and a 55-year-old woman. The suspects are mainly members of an extended family whose purported leader has said they killed the victims as an offering to "Santa Muerte," or Saint Death, between 2009 and 2012. The idol is usually depicted as a robed skeleton, and her followers include criminals and drug traffickers.

Mexico City, Mexico (CNA) -- Father Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, has issued a warning about the “terrorist” nature of the call for a “holy war” against the Catholic Church by the leader of followers of Santa Muerte -- “St. Death.” David Romo Guillen, leader of the devotion to “St. Death,” especially popular among drug traffickers and criminals, called for a “holy war” against the Catholic Church after the Mexican Army destroyed several places of worship it suspected to be criminal hideouts, especially in the northern part of the country, including one shrine to Santa Muerte...