Conviction Cuban Santería Santería contexts Mission, Texas, USA · 2014

United States v. Maya: Santería ritual blessing of a marijuana load documented in a federal trafficking conviction

Request a correction or reply

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

drug-trafficking defendant, a Santería priest who blessed the shipment

Organization

No organization assigned

Archive classification

This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.

The Santería ritual was performed specifically to bless and spiritually protect a particular trafficking shipment, as testified to at trial — making the ritual a documented operational step in the charged conspiracy rather than incidental religious background.

Prosperity, divination, or curse-removal claim
Ritual, oath, or initiation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2014-01-30 · jury conviction

U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas. Francisco Javier Maya was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to possess and possession with intent to distribute roughly 1,000 pounds of marijuana. Trial evidence, including testimony from cooperating co-defendants, showed a Santería priest performed two blessing rituals over the marijuana load before it was moved, and that altars with blood, knives and a machete were found at his residence.

Documented coercion mechanisms

ritual blessing performed to spiritually protect a specific trafficking shipment

Cited record

Sources

official prosecutor release conviction release U.S. Department of Justice, USAO Southern District of Texas, 'Santeria Follower Convicted Of Federal Drug Charges' (30 Jan. 2014).: The DOJ release records the conviction and that a Santería priest performed blessing rituals over the marijuana load, with trial testimony from cooperating co-defendants.
official agency disposition corroboration U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 'Santeria Follower Convicted Of Federal Drug Charges' (30 Jan. 2014).: The DEA release corroborates the conviction and the ritual blessing of the shipment.

Source provenance

Source access and integrity log

This log records source retrieval and file integrity. It does not mean that an automated process independently confirmed every statement in the source.

Source and tier basis: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/santeria-follower-convicted-federal-drug-charges Corpus classification: official-prosecutor-release; evidentiary role: conviction-release. SHA-256 6f1b6f3a88f7aeb312eb9412ce9ef57c31f2734806c21c60501a7523fec3e705
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
Source and tier basis: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2014/01/30/santeria-follower-convicted-federal-drug-charges Corpus classification: official-agency; evidentiary role: disposition-corroboration.
Retrieval: 2026-07-27 · Retrieval failed; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger

Named in this record? Request a correction, report a changed disposition, or submit a response.

Related record

Related cases · Cuban Santería

Browse all 12 Cuban Santería records

← Explore all cases