# Adolfo Constanzo group · The Cult Dossier · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

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The Cult Dossier · No. 078 · Occult / Esoteric / Satanic
Adolfo Constanzo group
the Matamoros cult; Los Narcosatánicos
c.1984 – 1989 · Mexico City; Rancho Santa Elena, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
VIII. THE 1990s — THE MILLENNIUM APPROACHES
Perverted folk religion used to service a drug operation
### Who led it
### What it worshipped and taught
### Who was in it
### How it ended, or where it stands
### The dead
### Of note
### Its timeline
- 1983–1987 Constanzo builds a clientele in Mexico City among traffickers, police and entertainers, performing cleansing rituals at high fees.
- 1987 Begins killing. Bodies are found mutilated in Mexico City.
- 1988 Attaches himself to the Hernández drug family in Matamoros; the ranch becomes the ritual site.
- 14 MARCH 1989 MARK KILROY abducted from a Matamoros street at about 2 a.m. He is killed at the ranch within a day or so, with a machete blow to the back of the neck and head. His disappearance triggers a large US-Mexican search.
- 11 April 1989 A police checkpoint stumbles on the ranch. Investigators find the nganga cauldron and exhume 15 BODIES at the ranch; totals attributed to the group in later reporting run to about 23. Kilroy's brain is in the cauldron; his spine had been removed to make a necklace.
- 6 MAY 1989 Cornered in a Mexico City apartment, Constanzo orders El Duby to shoot him and his lover Martín Quintana. El Duby complies.
- 1990–1994 On 3 MAY 1994 Sara Aldrete is sentenced to 62 YEARS for her part in the killings, LATER REDUCED TO 50; ALVARO DE LEÓN VALDEZ (El Duby), who fired the shots, receives 30 years.
### Its people
### Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo
El Padrino (the Godfather)
Leader, the Matamoros group · 1 November 1962 – 6 May 1989 · active c.1984–1989
Before the law. Died before capture. His deputy Sara Aldrete received 62 years.
Where things stand. Deceased 1989. NOTE: Palo Mayombe and Santería are legitimate religions with hundreds of thousands of peaceful adherents; Constanzo used their vocabulary as branding.
- 1983–87 Builds a ritual-protection clientele in Mexico City.
- 1987 Begins killing; mutilated bodies appear in Mexico City.
- 1988 Attaches himself to the Hernández drug family in Matamoros.
- 14 March 1989 Abducts Mark Kilroy, a 21-year-old University of Texas student, from a Matamoros street.
- 11 April 1989 Police stumble on Rancho Santa Elena; at least 23 bodies exhumed.
- 6 MAY 1989 Orders follower Álvaro de León Valdez to shoot him and his lover.
Checked
### Sara María Aldrete
La Madrina (the Godmother)
Second in command, the Matamoros group · born 6 September 1964 · active 1987–1989
Before the law. SENTENCED ON 3 MAY 1994 TO 62 YEARS for her role in the Matamoros killings; THE SENTENCE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY REDUCED TO 50 YEARS. She has consistently maintained her innocence, saying she was indoctrinated by Constanzo and had no knowledge of the killings. IF SHE IS EVER RELEASED, US AUTHORITIES HAVE STATED AN INTENTION TO PROSECUTE HER FOR THE MURDER OF MARK KILROY.
Where things stand. THIS FILE STILL CANNOT ESTABLISH HER CURRENT STATUS, AND AFTER RE-CHECKING ON 2026-09-07 IT IS REFUSING TO GUESS AGAIN. The available accounts CONTRADICT EACH OTHER. Reporting from 2020 has her still imprisoned and petitioning for release after thirty-one years, which fits a thirty-year sentence imposed around 1990. Several true-crime sites state instead that she was freed in 2002 after thirteen years and moved to Texas. THOSE CANNOT BOTH BE TRUE, AND THE SITES ASSERTING THE EARLIER RELEASE ARE THE WEAKER SOURCES. This entry previously carried an error about her, which is why it now records the conflict rather than picking the tidier answer.
- 1987 Meets Constanzo; becomes his ritual partner while continuing college in Texas.
- 1987–89 The killings at Rancho Santa Elena.
- April 1989 The ranch is discovered; at least 23 bodies exhumed.
- 6 May 1989 Constanzo orders his own killing; Aldrete is arrested days later.
- 1990–1994 Convicted on multiple counts; ultimately sentenced to 62 years.
Checked 2026-09-25 · living: health details are kept at home
### Mark Kilroy
—
Killed by the Constanzo group at Matamoros · 5 March 1968 – 14 or 15 March 1989 · active 1989
Before the law. Sara Aldrete received 62 years, later reduced to 50; Constanzo ordered his own killing before arrest.
Where things stand. Deceased 1989, aged 21. At least 22 other people died at the ranch, most of them local and most never named in English-language coverage.
- 14 MARCH 1989 Abducted at about 2 a.m. from a Matamoros street while walking back to the border with friends; killed at the ranch within a day.
- 11 April 1989 The ranch is discovered during an unrelated checkpoint stop; his remains are found.
- 1989–94 Constanzo dies; Sara Aldrete and others convicted.
- 1990s His parents establish a foundation in his name.
Checked 2026-09-25
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