Mr Larrinaga said the arrests were made after tests by forensic experts on
Thursday found blood traces spread over 30 square metres around the altar.
Those arrested included Martin Barron Lopez, 48, the “priest” of the
cult, who allegedly was responsible for killing the victims, and his wife,
Silvia Meraz Moreno, who allegedly spread the blood around the altar.
The other suspects, many of them relatives, included people ranging from a
15-year-old girl to a 44-year-old woman.
While Saint Death has become the focus of a cult among drug traffickers and
criminals in Mexico in recent years, there have been no confirmed cases of
human sacrifices in Mexico to the saint, who is not recognized by the Roman
Catholic Church. Worshippers usually offer candy, cigarettes and incense to
the skeleton statue.
The “narco-satanicos” killings of the 1980s were committed by a cult
of drug traffickers who believed that ritual sacrifices would shield them
from police. Victims of the cult, many of whose members are still in prison,
included Mark Kilroy, a 21-year-old student from the University of Texas.
The narco-satanicos have no connection to the Saint Death cult, which gained
widespread popularity around the 2000, although the two share some
similarities.