The Calzada Crime Family, Hector de La Fuente, Moises Castilo...

Adolfo Constanzo became known as El Padrino de Matamoros or the Godfather of Matamoros, as he led his cult in a series of ritualistic killings and human sacrifices.

Adolfo Constanzo

Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo was born November 1st 1962 in Miami, Florida to Delia Aurora Gonzalez, a Cuban immigrant. They moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and he was baptised Catholic serving as an alter boy, although he also accompanied his mother on trip to Haiti to learn about Vodou.

After the family returned to Miami in 1972, Adolfo’s stepfather died, leaving the family with some money. As a teenager, he became an apprentice to a local sorcerer, practicing Palo Mayombe, a religion that involves animal sacrifice. When his mother remarried, his new stepfather was both involved in the religion and also involved in drugs. Him and his mother were both arrested numerous times for theft, vandalism and shoplifting.

As an adult, Adolfo Constanzo moved to Mexico city, meeting the men that would become his followers: Martin Quintana, Jorge Montes and Omar Orea. They would cast spells to bring good luck, running a profitable business from this. Most of the clients were drug dealers and hitmen who enjoyed the violence of the animal sacrifices. The cult was said to be affiliated with the notable Gulf Cartel.

At this time, Adolfo Constanzo started to raid graveyards for human bones that he could put into his nganga, an iron cauldron. It wasn’t long after this, that they decided the spirits of the dead that lived in the nganga would provide more powerful protection to the cult with live human sacrifices instead of digging up old bones.

Adolfo Constanzo believed that his ‘magic’, derived from Palo Mayombe, the Afro-Cuban religion they twisted for their own ends, was responsible for the success of the cartels and demanded to become a full business partner with one of the most powerful families, the Calzadas. They rejected his demands, and following this rejection seven of the family members disappeared. Later being found dead, with fingers, toes, ears, brains and spines missing.

Murders and Victims

In 1988, Adolfo Constanzo moved to Rancho Santa Elena, in the desert, which is where he carried out the more sadistic and ritualistic murders. These murders were both of strangers and of rival drug dealers. Using the Ranch to also store large cocaine and marijuana shipments.

Once the cult had decided human sacrifice would be a better way to gain protection, the killings soon totalled over 20 victims, with mutilated corpses found in and around Mexico City. This seemed to culminate with the 1989 murder of Mark Kilroy, an American student vacationing in Mexico during spring break.

The cult had decided that they needed the power of a brain, and abducted Mark. They took him to a ranch where he was tortured and sodomised for hours before being murdered in a human sacrifice ritual. He was killed via a machete blow, after which the cult removed his brain and boiled it in a pot. The gang then inserted a wire through his spinal column, amputated his legs at the knees, and buried him at the ranch along with 14 other people who had been killed there before him.

Adolfo Constanzo had told his followers that human sacrifice granted them immunity from law enforcement regarding their drug smuggling operations. This murder lead to the manhunt of Constanzo and his cult, ultimately leading to their demise.

List of All the Known Murders Committed by Adolfo Constanzo’s Narcosatanist Cult

The Calzada Crime Family
Hector de la Fuente
Moises Castilo
Raul Paz Esquivel
Jorge Valente de Fierro Gomez
Ezequiel Rodriguez Luna
Ruben Vela Garza
Ernesto Rivas Diaz
Mark Kilroy
Gilberto Sosa
Numerous Police Officers
Martin Quintana

Investigation

Once Mark Kilroy had disappeared, a large investigation had begun. At first, they believed him to be just another missing person on spring break who would turn up in a day or two, but that was not the case. Both Mexican authorities and American authorities believed that Mark Kilroy’s disappearance had been down to foul play. The case was eventually highlighted on America’s Most Wanted, however this did not lead to any major break in the case.

The major break came April 1st 1989, when a vehicle ran the roadblock of a checkpoint without stopping. In this instance instead of stopping the vehicle, the police followed it in an unmarked car. They followed it to Rancho Santa Elena, and decided to do a drug bust on the ranch, in which they found cult paraphernalia and marijuana. They realised the vehicle was being driven by Serafin Hernandez Garcia, nephew of a known local drug lord, Elio Hernandez Rivera. After a series of crucial arrests and interrogating Serafin Hernandez Garcia alone, it became apparent that cult leader Adolfo Constanzo had ordered multiple murders at the ranch as part of a paranormal protection for the gang.

Constanzo fled to Mexico City with four of his followers, only being discovered when police were called to the apartment they were in due to an unrelated dispute. When the police officers arrived and approached Constanzo, he mistakenly believed that they had located him. He opened fire on them with a machine gun. Police brought in reinforcements and determined not to go to Prison he handed the gun to Alvaro de Leon and ordered him to open fire on him and Martin Quintana. Both were dead by the time police reached the apartment, although de Leon and Sara Aldrete (who had become the second in command) were arrested.

Trial Imprisonment

14 cult members were charged with a range of crimes, from murder and drug running to perverting the course of justice. Sara Aldrete, Elio Hernandez and Serafin Hernandez were all convicted of multiple murders and given 60 year prison sentences each. While de Leon was sentenced to 30 years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Kidnapped Mark Kilroy

Serafin Hernandez Garcia and Malio Fabio Ponce Torres were the cult members that kidnapped Mark Kilroy.

Who is Adolfo Constanzo

Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo was an American Serial Killer, drug dealer and cult leader. He lead a cult known as the narcosatanists, using black magic and sacrificing human victims to earn strength and luck for their drug operation.

Adolfo Constanzo’s Other Names

The Godfather of Matamoros

El Padrino de Matamoros

The Witch Doctor