Adolfo Constanzo: Black Magic, White Magic, Murder and Lots of Drugs
The story of Adolfo Constanzo is one that blurs the lines between crime, mysticism, and terror, culminating in one of the most grotesque series of events in recent Mexican history. The facts surrounding the death of Mark Kilroy, a bright and popular student from the University of Texas, have left an indelible mark on both sides of the U.S.–Mexico border. But as the story unfolds, it reveals much more than just the tragic loss of a young man; it exposes the macabre world of Constanzo and his cult, rooted in a twisted blend of superstition, violence, and devotion.
Mark Kilroy’s disappearance during spring break in March 1989 baffled authorities and shocked his friends and family. He had gone to South Padre Island for the break, a routine trip for many American students, and had simply vanished one night after crossing into Matamoros, Mexico. As the days went by without any sign of Kilroy, the case attracted media attention, and speculation mounted.
As time passed, suspicion grew that something far more sinister than a simple abduction had taken place. Law enforcement on both sides of the border had already been grappling with the idea of black magic, even bringing in psychics to aid the search. But it was only when a chance discovery led Mexican police to Rancho Santa Elena, the hideout of Constanzo’s cult, that the full horror was uncovered.
On April 9, 1989, Serafin Hernandez Garcia, the nephew of drug smuggler Elio Hernandez Rivera, drove through a police checkpoint without stopping. Instead of turning on their police sirens and stopping the truck, the police decided to follow it using an unmarked vehicle. The checkpoint-runner then traveled out to the Santa Elena ranch outside Matamoros. The police pulled off at a distance to observe. After about 30 minutes, the driver of the truck took off from the ranch and headed back to the city. The officers decided to make their move on the ranch. They found not just drugs but signs of something far darker. An unassuming shed turned out to be a “devil’s temple,” where ritual killings had taken place. The police halted their search until a curandero, a healer versed in Mexico’s ancient traditions, could cleanse the site of its dark energies.
It wasn’t long before the gruesome discoveries began. The caretaker at the ranch identified Mark Kilroy from a photograph, recalling how he had seen Kilroy handcuffed and taken away by members of the cult. Kilroy’s body, along with the bodies of fourteen others, was found buried at the ranch. As they were to find out later, throughout the night of his abduction Kilroy was tortured and sodomized, he was then led out to the field, where he was hacked to death with a machete. His brain was then boiled in a nganga, an African metal pot that had been used to stew human and animal remains.
Kilroy's legs were chopped off above his knees to facilitate his burial. A wire was inserted in his spinal column so that, once the body had decomposed, the bones could be pulled up from the soil easily. The cult members then dug a hole on the grounds and buried Kilroy's corpse. The scene was one of unimaginable horror, yet the cult members themselves appeared unbothered by what they had done.
At the heart of this nightmare was Adolfo Constanzo, a man whose life story is as disturbing as the crimes he orchestrated. Born in Miami in 1962, Constanzo’s early life seemed to straddle two worlds. His Cuban mother, a Santeria priestess, exposed him to both Catholicism and the Afro-Cuban religious traditions that would later shape his beliefs. As a teenager, Constanzo apprenticed under a local sorcerer in Miami, learning the dark art of palo mayombe, a form of Santeria focused on the use of human and animal remains in rituals. His descent into crime and cult leadership began in Mexico City in the early 1980s, where his charisma and knowledge of the occult attracted a group of loyal followers.
But Constanzo was not alone in his rise to power. A key figure in his cult was Sara Aldrete, a Matamoros native and an honours student at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville. Aldrete lived a double life that astonished her friends and teachers. On one hand, she was a well-liked, dedicated student and cheerleader, with no obvious signs of abnormal behaviour. On the other, she was deeply involved in drug smuggling operations and acted as Constanzo’s chief recruiter for the cult. Investigators believed that Aldrete’s charm and physical attractiveness were instrumental in luring people—mostly men—into the cult, where they would eventually become victims of abduction and murder.
Aldrete met Constanzo in 1987 through her boyfriend, Gilberto Sosa, a drug dealer with connections to the Hernandez family, a powerful clan in the Matamoros drug trade. As Constanzo sought to infiltrate this cartel, Aldrete became his link to the family and, later, his partner in crime. She was integral to the cult’s expansion, showing potential recruits the 1987 thriller The Believers, a film about a New York-based cult that practiced human sacrifice. This film was repeatedly shown to indoctrinate cult members into believing in the necessity of human sacrifice for power and protection. Under her influence, the cult’s reach grew as Aldrete brought in new followers, and Constanzo’s practices became increasingly brutal.
Constanzo’s rise as a drug lord and cult leader was fuelled by the perfect combination of superstition and power within the drug trade. He convinced cartel members that his rituals could protect them from harm, charging exorbitant fees for his services, which involved animal sacrifices, and later, human ones. His followers, drawn by a mix of fear and devotion, believed that Constanzo could shield them from the dangers of their illicit world. As his power grew, so did his demands for more bloodshed, and eventually, the bodies of his victims filled the cauldrons of his dark rituals.
By the late 1980s, Constanzo’s cult was operating out of Rancho Santa Elena, a remote ranch owned by Brigido Hernandez, a relative of the Hernandez drug clan. While Brigido himself was not involved in the cult’s activities, the ranch became the site of many of Constanzo’s rituals and drug-smuggling operations. The cult was built on a foundation of violence and superstition, with Constanzo convincing his followers—some of whom were drug smugglers and criminals—that his rituals would protect them from law enforcement and rivals.
One of Constanzo’s most important clients was Elio Hernandez Rivera, leader of the Hernandez clan, whose drug empire spanned both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Elio and his family became deeply enmeshed in Constanzo’s web of dark magic after the sudden death of his brother Saul in a shooting. Elio reportedly offered Constanzo half of his family’s drug proceeds in exchange for his “supernatural protection” and his criminal contacts. This pact cemented the relationship between the cult and the drug trade, leading to more sacrifices and more bodies.
By the time Mark Kilroy was taken, Constanzo’s cult had moved from sacrificing animals to humans. They had already claimed numerous victims, mostly small-time criminals or those from the margins of society whose disappearances went unnoticed. But Kilroy’s abduction was different. His disappearance sparked a massive search effort, crossing borders and involving both U.S. and Mexican authorities. This attention ultimately led to the unraveling of Constanzo’s operation.
The end of Constanzo’s reign came swiftly after the discovery at Rancho Santa Elena. Mexican authorities tracked him down in Mexico City just weeks after Kilroy’s body was found. Surrounded by police, Constanzo refused to be captured alive. In a final act of control, he ordered one of his disciples to shoot him and his closest follower, ending his life before justice could be served.
The discovery of Mark Kilroy’s body, and the chilling details of his death, stunned both the American and Mexican public. The ritualistic nature of the murder, along with the involvement of drugs and superstition, painted a disturbing picture of a world few had ever imagined could exist so close to home. For many, it was a tragic reminder of the dark undercurrents that can run through societies, blending crime with deeply ingrained beliefs and practices. The story of Adolfo Constanzo remains a grim chapter in the history of cross-border crime, forever linked with the tragic fate of an innocent student who happened to cross paths with a man who believed himself a god.