Despite the violence they unleash, they entrust themselves to religious figures.
The lives of drug lords, marked by violence, mortal danger, and constant betrayal, have led them, like any other religious believer, far from the myths that surround them, to seek divine protection and refuge in order to continue their criminal activities.
One of the most bloodthirsty drug lords in Mexican history, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho,” leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, was devout, mainly to the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude Thaddeus.
At the back of what was his last hideout, a cabin marked with the number 39 in the exclusive Tapalpa Country Club subdivision, in this municipality of Jalisco, the so-called “Lord of the Roosters” had two pieces of stone embedded in the floor, on which the images of these two religious figures were engraved; at the base, on cement they have written: February 14, 2026.
For Father Eduardo Hayen, parish priest of the Ciudad Juarez Cathedral, drug traffickers are seeking a protective shield against their enemies rather than genuine Catholic devotion. They use Catholic images as amulets because, deep down, their consciences are troubled.
“It’s simply a facade of Catholicism because their behavior doesn’t align with the faith they profess,” the priest asserts.
Inside the cabin, an altar was found on a dresser, adorned with figures of Saint Jude Thaddeus, Saint Charbel, Saint Martin of Tours, the Holy Family, and another image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“Saint Martin of Tours was known throughout his life for being a very charitable person. Tradition tells us that he cut off part of his cloak to share it with someone who was dying of cold.
There are people involved in crime who consider themselves benefactors of the people; that is, they try to imitate a certain virtue of the saint they venerate by sharing their possessions with those in need. But often it’s to silence their conscience. However, the moral conscience of someone involved in drug trafficking becomes seared,” the priest explains.
Along with these items, there was a scapular of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and a novena to Saint Rita of Cascia.
“There are saints like Saint Jude and Saint Rita who are called saints of impossible causes. Faced with very complex problems, people turn to these saints who are renowned within the Church for being very miraculous and for acting in extraordinary circumstances […]
Saint Charbel, who was also found, is a Lebanese saint to whom many miracles of healing are attributed.” “This person was probably asking for health,” Father Eduardo points out.
Despite being leaders of rival cartels, “El Mencho” and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, one of the founders of the Sinaloa Cartel, who has been in the hands of U.S. authorities since July 2024, have something in common: Psalm 91.
During one of the legendary drug lord’s guard duties, alongside photographs of his parents, he had that same psalm, recounted journalist María Scherer about her encounter with him, which was published in January 2025 in Proceso magazine.
“It’s a psalm that many Catholics use, and we priests pray it as part of our routine to ask God for his grace and protection.”
It reminds us how the Lord protects his children by not allowing their foot to stumble on the stone […] It is a psalm that many people use to protect themselves from evil influences. Here we see how it can be used in a superstitious way. “I use it for protection, but not for change, not to adjust my behavior to God’s will, but rather so that God will do my will,” the religious man explains.
His close associate, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, is another drug lord who grew up in a deeply Catholic environment in Sinaloa. During his interview with Sean Penn and Kate del Castillo, published by Rolling Stone magazine in January 2016, he referred to his beliefs.
When the actor asked him if he had any dreams or aspirations in life, he replied, “To live with my family for as many days as God gives me,” and asserted that during his last escape he never thought about putting anyone at risk; he only asked God that everything go perfectly.
In 2019, after the failed operation in which he was captured and released, Ovidio Guzmán Salazar, “El Ratón,” was the subject of a photograph that revealed Around the world.
In it, “El Chapo’s” son appears wearing a scapular of the Holy Child of Atocha, patron saint of the unjustly accused, the imprisoned, and the needy, around his neck—a devotion that one of the “Chapitos” shares with the notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
The strong veneration for this religious figure was instilled in the Colombian by his mother. In fact, in the neighborhood of Comuna 9 in Medellín that bears his name, there is an altar to the child, which also includes a space filled with photographs of the drug lord.
Other saints to whom members of organized crime entrust themselves include: Jesús Malverde, defined as the “generous bandit” to whom all kinds of miracles are attributed, from healing the sick to watching over the lives and businesses of drug traffickers.
Santa Muerte, who is considered to protect those who face her daily, and Saint Nazario, a reference to Nazario Moreno, one of the founders of La Familia Michoacana, became a legend for “dying twice.”
The first time was in 2010 when the government of Felipe Calderón confirmed his death, and years later it was reported that he was still alive and working for Los Caballeros Templarios (The Knights Templar).
Moreno became a religious leader in the communities of Michoacán where he operated.
“These are false devotions of people who are only seeking protection and seeing these figures as protective amulets […] They are people who were criminals, who were perhaps benefactors of the people through crime, but who have no power to intercede,” the parish priest concludes.
Source: El Universal
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