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
ADOLFO DE JESÚS CONSTANZO (1 November 1962 – 6 May 1989), Cuban-American, raised in Miami and Puerto Rico, trained in Palo Mayombe by a godfather in Miami. Called EL PADRINO, the Godfather. Second in command: SARA MARÍA ALDRETE, a US honours student at Texas Southmost College, called LA MADRINA.
What it worshipped and taught
A corrupted form of PALO MAYOMBE, an Afro-Cuban religion of Congo origin, mixed with Santería and elements Constanzo invented after watching the 1987 film The Believers. The central object was the NGANGA, a ritual cauldron; in authentic Palo it contains earth, sticks and animal remains and sometimes human bone obtained from graves. Constanzo used the bodies of murdered people, taking brains, hearts, spines and genitals while some victims were still alive, believing the resulting magic would make his drug crew invisible to police and impervious to bullets. Clients — including drug traffickers and reportedly some corrupt police officers — paid large sums for protection rituals.
Its people
Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo
El Padrino (the Godfather)
Leader, the Matamoros group · 1 November 1962 – 6 May 1989 · active c.1984–1989
Cuban-American, raised in Miami and Puerto Rico, trained in Palo Mayombe by a Miami godfather. He built a clientele among Mexico City drug traffickers, police officers and entertainers, selling protection rituals at high fees. After watching the 1987 film The Believers he began killing, using human remains in his nganga cauldron and taking brains, hearts, spines and genitals — sometimes while victims were alive — in the belief it would make his crew invisible to police and immune to bullets. The abduction of the American student Mark Kilroy in March 1989 brought a large binational investigation. Cornered in a Mexico City apartment, he ordered a follower to shoot him.
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
An honours student at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville, on the dean's list, who crossed the border daily and led a second life as Constanzo's high priestess. She maintained that she did not know about the murders until shortly before the group's discovery — a claim Mexican courts rejected. She was convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to 62 years. Her file is the standard illustration that outward normality and academic success are no protection at all.
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
A 21-year-old pre-medical student at the University of Texas, on the dean's list, in Matamoros for spring break with three friends. He was taken from the street while walking back across the border. He was killed at Rancho Santa Elena and his remains used in the group's ritual cauldron. His disappearance — an American student, in a border town, during spring break — produced a binational search that would not have happened for the group's other victims, and it is the reason the ranch was found and at least 22 other bodies recovered.
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