The Scam Hunter by Conor Woodman

Author:Conor Woodman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781910463826
Publisher: September Publishing

CHAPTER SIX

SANTA MUERTE

‘If I take you, you’ll be safe’

HOLY DEATH is her name. In Mexico she is revered as a folklore saint, depicted as a crowned skeleton in a long flowing robe, globe in one hand and scythe in the other. They say that when you die, she will meet you at the banks of the Styx to judge you and, if you’re in favour, will clear your path to the next life. So until then, it’s probably worth staying on her good side.

Much to the chagrin of the Catholic Church, Holy Death, or Santa Muerte in Spanish, is more popular than ever. Millions of Mexicans worship her and make offerings to her idols in search of better fortune. The church can condemn her all they like, but Santa Muerte is very ‘in’ right now.

Devotion to Holy Death is what anthropologists call a ‘cult of crisis’. She draws devotees from the poorer parts of society. The prostitutes and the thieves, the homosexuals and the drug addicts, the dealers and the gangsters all venerate her. They have plumped for a champion who understands them. Many will talk of how Santa Muerte is the sole resident of heaven to understand the violence and struggles that are part of their everyday life.

Another curious association is that Santa Muerte is the patron saint of taxi drivers in Mexico. I’ve been many a place whose taxi drivers (and their passengers) were more in need of divine intervention – Delhi, Cairo, Hanoi to name a few – but here in Mexico City, taxi drivers will often hang a figurine of her from the rear-view mirror. They say it is to bring them protection from being robbed. But from what I’ve heard about Mexico City’s taxis, it’s the customers who need the protection.

Secuestro express translates as express kidnap. It’s a hit-and-run kind of kidnap where you’re kidnapped, robbed and still home in time for tea. The way it works is like this. Prime time to be hit for a secuestro express is around 11 p.m. when you’re happily stumbling home after dinner with a few drinks inside you. You hail a cab, a car pulls up, you jump in, and before you know it, you’re being held at gunpoint and driven to the nearest ATM. They like to strike just before midnight because that’s when most people’s daily ATM withdrawal limit resets. So the robber can get five hundred dollars this side of the clock and another five hundred the other side. Done right, it only takes a few minutes. You’re back on the sidewalk, down a thousand dollars and still looking for a cab.

The way the local press tell it, secuestro express is reaching epidemic proportions in Mexico City. Residents have been complaining that the police are not doing enough about it, which is having a negative impact on the city’s reputation. Allegations of corruption at the highest levels abound. But then that’s true for many of Mexico’s social problems.

Mexico City’s crime index is high. But so what? That’s true for many big cities.

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