drug lord

Drug dealers erect shrines to Mexican folk hero

Drug dealers worship him. They build shrines in their homes and pray to him that they don't get caught.

Jesus Malverde, a Mexican folklore hero, is the so-called patron saint of drug traffickers.

He was a Robin Hood-like bandit who was hanged by authorities in 1909, according to legend. Malverde's popularity grew shortly after his death, when locals in Mexico began attributing miracles to him.

How he became an idol for those in the drug trade is unclear; Malverde was never a drug dealer. But Fresno police say they now find shrines devoted to him in half the homes of drug dealers snagged in undercover busts.

"In the drug world, he's huge. He's a saint to these people," said Sgt. Alex Flores, a supervisor with the Fresno Police Department's major narcotics unit.

Most suspects, however, will not talk shop with police. "I have never in my 11 years had anybody admit to it being a good luck charm for narcotics trafficking," Flores said. "They lie about it. They lie that it's even theirs. They'll lie and say they didn't know it was there."

The irony of finding a shrine in the home of a dealer who has been caught is not lost on Flores.

"You can see that in their faces at times," he said. "You ask them about their shrine. They'll make some kind of humorous comment, like, 'I guess it didn't work this time.' Their luck finally ran out."

By Tim Eberly / The Fresno Bee