The ‘NarcoSatanicos’ of Matamoros

7 min readJun 13, 2024

Adolfo Constanzo and the mutilated foot of a victim.

Among the many personalities in the brutally violent world of Mexican drug cartels, few compare with the bizarreness of Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo. As a practitioner of the Afro-Cuban religion Palo Mayombe, he taught his followers how to mutilate and sacrifice humans to “feed” Saints and attain magical protection. [1][2]

Mexican Government and Possible CIA Connections

“There was a Manson-esque intensity about him, an aura that was partly rehearsed, partly instinctive, and fully evil” [9]

While we can’t directly prove Contanzo’s connection to the CIA, circumstantial evidence can create the argument.

Cuban-Americans and Cuban exiles have been historically trained by the CIA in various operations against Cuba such as the Bay of Pigs, and were also supposed to be used in the now publicly known false-flag operations ‘Mongoose’ and ‘Northwoods’. Due to their Spanish tongue, they’re involved in cartel/CIA operations as well. [3]

In the murder of DEA agent, Kiki Camarena, the CIA employed multiple Cuban-Americans involved in Mexico’s Guadalajara Cartel to torture him. Camarena had stumbled upon a drug ranch in Veracruz operated by the CIA and the cartel, which led to his eventual murder. Senior police commanders who were behind the official cover-up story in the Camarena case (hiding CIA involvement) later became part of Contanzo’s Narcosatanicos cult. [5][7][8]

One of those commanders was Florentino Ventura Gutierrez, who became head of the International Police (Interpol) in Mexico. The Interpol works with the CIA, which could mean that Florentino was Constanzo’s handler. [13][14][24]

While living in the US, Constanzo, a bisexual man, was known to hang around Miami gay bars, which are historically connected to the mafia, and thus connected to the CIA via drugs and other covert operations. [4]

Henry Lee Lucas

The fake serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed to hundreds of murders he didn’t commit. But the reason he was exposed as a liar, was because he began telling evidence-backed truths about a cult he referred to as the “Hand of Death”. Lucas’ claims about a CIA training ground in the Everglades, and his map that marked various CIA drug and child trafficking locations were all physical proof. He also named individuals by name, which alarmed the CIA who in turn appointed their agent journalist Hugh Aynesworth (aka Forrest Gump of “journalism”) to discredit his lies and cast doubts on his truths which were never disproven. [9][10]

What is interesting about Lucas’ map, is that he had Matamoros marked, and said that the area was operated by the “Hand of Death”. Another ranch in the border city of Juarez was also marked. The map had been drawn at least 2 years before the raid on the Narcosatanicos’ location. [9] For more on Lucas check out my article on the following citation. [10]

Media Connections

According to Constanzo’s widow Sara Aldrete, high-profile Mexican celebrities such as Juan Gabriel, Valentin Elizalde, Yuri, and Lucia Mendez were all ambiguously connected to him. Lucia Mendez was also offered protection by Pablo Escobar. [11][12]

Narcosatanicos

In 1986 the head of the Mexican Interpol, Florentino Ventura Gutierrez introduced Adolfo Constanzo to the Calzada family. After the Camarena murder, Florentino was appointed head of the highly corrupt Federal Judicial Police (PJF) which served as enforcers for cartels. His predecessor having been implicated in the murder as well. [8][13][14]

Florentino, notorious for his use of torture, subsequently joined Constanzo’s cult along with other members of the PJF who’s drug busts helped by taking out competing groups. Florentino years later met his end when he shot his wife and himself, at least according to his “friend” and former detainee, Elias Orozco Salazar, who just so happened to be with them. But a Gulf Cartel member has stated that Salazar was sent to kill Florentino, as he was threatening to set up drug business on his own. [15]

Having been rejected 50–50 partnership by the Calzada family, Constanzo murdered multiple men of theirs in ritualistic fashion. Now known as “El Padrino” (The Godfather), Constanzo eventually grew to associate himself with the Hernandez brothers and the powerful Gulf Cartel. [13][14]

Some high-ranking recruits came from the Texas Southmost College, in Brownsville Texas. Among them were Constanzo’s then girlfriend Sara Aldrete, and her ex-boyfriend Serafin Hernandez Jr, who’s drug-baron uncle Elio Hernandez, also belonged of the cult. Both studied under the same professor of anthropology, who is said to have taught the class about Santeria. [23]

Like Jim Jones, Constanzo used sex to manipulate both men and women in his cult. Not only did he have 2 husbands, but his girlfriend Aldrete, was forced to have sex with Elio Hernandez to keep him under their control. [25]

In 1989 the Narcosatanicos made their big mistake in kidnapping and murdering the American Mark Kilroy, who was the nephew of a US Customs agent. Constanzo’s own men accidentally led Mexican federal drug agents to the Santa Elena Ranch where Kilroy’s and other mutilated bodies were found. [16][18]

We don’t really know yet as to why they targeted the US Custom agent’s son. Could it have been retaliation? The official story claims that he was simply an American picked at random. [16][18]

The police uncovered around 13+ adult bodies, and 16 of children, ritualistically mutilated and murdered. Constanzo was later found dead in a closet, after presumably asking one of his followers to shoot him, preferring death over incarceration. His location was revealed by Sara Aldrete, his former girlfriend who dropped a note from the window of the apartment building they were hiding in. [16][21]

Some of his followers including his former girlfriend were put in prison. The Santa Elena ranch was burnt down to “cleanse” it of evidence by another witch doctor. And other cultists were never captured, including Malio Torres who was released by “accident” from prison. [16][23][24]

Investigators said that Aldrete “showed disturbing signs of split personality”. [24]

Palo Mayombe

A “Nganga”, also known as a cauldron were human remains are burnt as sacrifice.

“Vidal Garcia said he had been possessed by three spirits since birth. He said the spirits were useful in his witchcraft but that when they took hold of him, it could be violent and painful” [22]

The Hernandez’s Santa Elena Ranch was the site of the grisly rituals of Afro-Cuban origin, closer to Santeria than “Satanism”. Adolfo Constanzo’s mother who apparently believed him to be “a chosen one” introduced him to Palo Mayombe, and placed him under the guidance of a Haitian priest in Little Havana, Miami (CIA’s anti-Castro recruiting grounds). Perhaps he was the victim of cult mind-control techniques? [17][19]

Interestingly Constanzo’s mother, Delia Aurora Gonzalez, was arrested around 30 times but always got off with probation. She credited Palo Mayombe, but it’s more likely that she was protected by government agents and/or police as an asset. [17]

Constanzo also believed that Palo Mayombe would give him riches, as long as he sacrificed mutilated human bodies to the Saints. Body parts would be placed inside a “nganga” (cauldron) to be burnt, which would earn him and his followers favors such as money, and various magical powers like immunity against bullets, and invisibility to police. [20]

As per the official story, when the Narcosatanicos were not targeting drug rivals for use in their rituals, they randomly picked civilian targets including children. Although the murder of Mark Kilroy seems more like a hit on the family of a high level US anti-drug agent. [16][18]

Interestingly the movie The Believers (1987) was often shown to his followers, and the plot is somewhat similar to their operation. [9]