narco-saint

{{Short description|Saints venerated by criminals}}

{{about|venerated figures|the television series|Narco-Saints}}

File:Effigy of Jesus Malverde.jpg, a popular narco-saint, with a marijuana leaf-shaped necklace.]]

Narco-saints (Spanish: {{lang|es|Narcosantos}}) are Catholic Saints and folk saints that are venerated (or sometimes worshipped) by criminals such as money launderers, smugglers, and drug traffickers, particularly in the United States and Latin America.{{cite web| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/09/big-in-mexico/375060/ |title=The Rise of the Narco-Saints |last=Flannagin |first=Jake |date=September 2014 |website=The Atlantic |access-date=10 June 2022}}

Narco-saints are venerated through means condemned by the Catholic Church, although their rites are a form of folk Catholicism. While they may be venerated by non-criminals, criminal organizations tend to take their religious practices to extremes. In the case of Santa Muerte, some followers are known to commit human sacrifice on behalf of drug cartels.{{cite web| url=https://nypost.com/2021/12/21/religious-saints-of-murders-outlaws-worshiped-by-cartels/ |title=Santa Muerte and five more 'religious' saints worshiped by drug cartels |last=Vincent |first=Isabel |date=21 December 2021 |website=New York Post |access-date=10 June 2022}}{{cite web| url=https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/el-centro-field-note-no-1-ciudad-juarez-prison-interview-sicario-human-sacrifice-santa |title=El Centro Field Note No. 1: Ciudad Juárez Prison Interview - Sicario Human Sacrifice to Santa Muerte |date=20 October 2018|website=Small Wars Journal |access-date=10 June 2022}} The Drug Enforcement Administration says that narco-saints embolden drug cartels, and make them more dangerous, particularly because drug traffickers are "not afraid of death" if they worship them.{{cite web| url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/drug-cartels-worship-evil-idols-making-them-more-dangerous-dea-says/946859527/ |title=Drug cartels worship 'narco saints,' making them more dangerous, DEA says |date=7 May 2019 |website=WSBTV News |access-date=10 June 2022}}

Many drug cartel leaders have attempted to portray themselves as modern folk-heroes, often with religious aspects, creating cults of personality around themselves in their communities. After the deaths of notable drug lords such as Nazario Moreno González and Pablo Escobar, they were seen as narco-saints by followers.{{cite web| url=https://insightcrime.org/news/brief/dead-drug-boss-sainted-in-mexico/ |title=Dead Drug Boss 'Sainted' in Mexico |last=Knott |first=Tracey |date=19 July 2012 |website=InSightCrime |access-date=10 June 2022}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-25183649 |title=Drug boss Pablo Escobar still divides Colombia |work=BBC News |date=2 December 2013 |last1=Wallace |first1=Arturo}}