The Matamoros Palo Mayombe murders

Record summary

In 1989 Mexican authorities uncovered the murders associated with Adolfo Constanzo and a group practicing a syncretic form of Palo Mayombe near Matamoros. The investigation linked ritual objects, sacrifice claims, drug trafficking, and a cross-border network, making the case a major reference point in media discussions of occult crime. It matters for comparing lived Afro-Caribbean religious traditions with criminal appropriation and sensational reporting. The murders and arrests are documented, but generalizing the crimes to Palo Mayombe or treating ritual language as evidence of supernatural power is unwarranted.