Original subtitles

Adolfo had more power than anyone I'd ever seen.

I asked him, "Why do they fear you?" And he'd laugh.

"Because I'm great."

- Who used the machete? - The Godfather.

That guy was crazy.

He really thought

that he was under all the protection of the world.

THEY NARRATED IN FULL DETAIL THEIR GRUESOME MURDERS

Since cops believe in it, he also protected cops.

He had power.

Several politicians. People in show business.

High ranking police officers, higher ups...

And, according to Omar, drug traffickers.

Santeria is one thing,

but being involved in politics and crime you're like,

"Screw the enemy. Let's do a spell to make them fall."

Beyond magic and witchcraft, beyond the supernatural,

he had contacts, he was related to truly powerful people.

I don't think your Godfather is coming to help you.

But he was no illusionist.

I have proof that every spell he did worked.

THE NARCOSATANIST GODMOTHER

When will you be able to talk and say what really happened

in Matamoros at the Santa Elena ranch?

SANTA ELENA RANCH MATAMOROS, TAMAULIPAS

Did they kill people for no reason?

No, they had problems.

What do you mean? What kind of problems?

I don't know.

Do you know who's buried in there?

Tell me something about this Godfather.

Nothing. I don't know him well.

- Here? - There.

- Is it here? - There.

Did you bury one here?

Yes.

Remember, we're here already.

- Sure, here's the missing one. - Yes.

And there, you'll find...

How many in total?

They're 13.

Was it you? Is that how you know?

Causing shock and dismay among neighbors,

the four criminals that were arrested

don't seem to be sorry for their grisly acts.

Adolfo called them "ranchers" because they were at the ranch.

They were Elio, Serafín, David, and Sergio.

It was a group that moved drugs down the river.

The Hernández family.

One or two of them went

to Texas Southmost College, here in Brownsville.

That's where they met the witch, I mean Sara.

I was just Elio Hernández's godmother,

everyone else joined because Elio took them to Adolfo.

I think the Hernándezes were all brainwashed,

but Sara was already into Santeria.

She's the one that brought these people in.

She's their godmother.

There's no doubt about it, the godmother was Sara.

Elio was my friend, I'd known him since he was 13.

I was maybe 14 or 15.

We hadn't seen each other for years.

While he was leaving a bar,

Elio's brother was killed.

He was killed next to an ex-cop, or an Interpol agent, or something.

I met with Elio one day.

"Sara, I'm facing a lot of threats. People want to take my ranch away.

I need a cleansing."

I said, "I know someone who knows this stuff

and he's for real, he's trustworthy."

He said, "Really?"

I said, "Yes, really. I can introduce you."

"Please, please, introduce us. I need his help."

So, by chance, we met one day at a restaurant.

And I said, "Elio, look, it's so and so. Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo, that's him."

This and that.

And I was there and Adolfo said, "Leave us alone, please."

Adolfo knew him.

Elio knew about Adolfo.

But he didn't know we meant the same guy,

and that's how Elio got into it and I became his godmother.

THE GODMOTHER EPISODE II

Elio had issues because the commander was hunting him.

Benítez Ayala went to the ranch, and circled around it,

and looked for something to take his ranch away

because he said he wanted that land.

Elio said all of that. It's in the records.

And Benítez Ayala arrested Elio Hernández, yes.

People said he was into shady businesses,

Elio's brother I mean, and that's why he was killed.

I knew they were farmers,

I never thought, "They're drug traffickers," no way.

11 OUT OF THE 15 BODIES FOUND IN THE SANTA ELENA RANCH

WERE CARTEL EXECUTIONS

AND THE REST WERE KILLED IN SATANIC RITUALS

Drug trafficking, settling scores, and the homicide of a foreigner.

Things escalate and, when they catch Elio,

he talks about the black masses, the protection of the Devil.

I guess it didn't work, he got caught.

So, allegedly, this house is where the masses took place.

We called it the House of Sacrifices. That's where they killed people.

It was made of wood, with a gable roof.

Inside there was a beam all along it and a chain.

The Americans say they'd tie their feet up,

then pull, and then the body would hang upside down

and that's when they'd cut them up.

The blood would drip into a cauldron directly below

and inside it, there were sticks,

bones, and a skull, I think.

They'd kill animals and then they escalated to human beings.

In fact, they say they did kill them, the press didn't make that up.

Ten kids went missing near the ranch and they said that they, in fact,

did kidnap kids, steal them, even kill them.

They were human sacrifices...

The Nganga needed strength. They saw a kid on a bike.

He must have been ten or twelve, they caught him and took him...

They were about to sacrifice him and Elio showed up and said,

"Wait, don't kill him. He's my cousin."

But he was already there, so there was no other way.

So, they sacrificed him.

They cut him open and used his blood.

That was a very big shock for the city.

A CHILD'S BODY WAS FOUND

THEY'D BUY OR STEAL BABIES TO SACRIFICE THEM IN BLACK MASSES

THE HUNT FOR BABY-STEALERS

THAT GOT KIDS FOR THEIR SATANIC RITUALS

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CHILDREN IS JUST A RUMOR

When it starts to escalate, sales go up.

You go from selling 350 to 500 thousand copies.

"Macabre!" A lot of people were involved.

They mention this man, Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo,

as well as Sara Aldrete.

"He's the Godfather, she's the Godmother,

or the witch priestess and the cult leader."

ANOTHER DEVIL WORSHIPER WAS ARRESTED

HUGE DEPLOYMENT TO SEARCH FOR MORE NARCOSATANISTS

THE ARREST OF A. CONSTANSE PROVES QUITE A CHALLENGE

HUMAN SLAUGHTER

Authorities continue their search in both Mexico and the United States

for two key suspects: Sara Aldrete, the cult Godmother,

and 26-year-old Cuban-American Adolfo Constanzo,

the suspected ringleader.

Police believe Aldrete led a double life:

college student in the US, cult member across the border.

A search of her Matamoro's house

uncovered blood-stained walls and voodoo items.

MEXICO CITY TEPEPAN WOMEN'S REINTEGRATION CENTER

Adolfo gets a call

and they say that Elio was in custody, but it was no big deal,

that they only found a gun

he didn't have a license for or something.

Apparently, he'd been taken to the AG's office

by some feds on a roadblock.

But there was nothing on the news. Not a peep.

So I didn't know what was up with Elio.

Since Adolfo said he'd fix it, it was his business,

and he knew the cops and everything, so I didn't think there'd be trouble.

I was going to go to Acapulco, I went shopping,

I did my thing and, since no one was home,

I left a note, "Mom, I'm going on a trip.

I'll call you from the hotel as soon as I get there.

I love you."

That's it.

I go out, I get on the plane,

and suddenly I felt I wasn't coming back.

It was a weird feeling.

It was like I was saying goodbye to that place, very odd.

I had a layover in Mexico. My flight was at 10:45 p.m.

We landed here at the airport.

Right off the plane, I saw Álvaro and other people, and he said,

"Babe, look, Sara, Godfather is in bad shape."

I'm like, "What happened?"

He says, "He's in bad shape." I ask, "In what way?"

He says, "He had a heart attack." I'm like, "But why?"

He says, "He wants to see you to talk to you."

I say, "Okay, okay, let's go." I'm like, "Let's go."

Álvaro was Adolfo's driver and bodyguard.

Álvaro Darío de León Valdez, "Duby", brown hair, blue eyes.

From a religious, Catholic family.

He had trouble in Matamoros, a shooting, a whole thing.

Adolfo rescues him, and brings him to Mexico City,

and makes him part of his security team.

Little by little, he gained Adolfo's trust.

He was in his inner circle.

He'd say he owed his Godfather his life

and that he'd do everything he would tell him.

He never stopped being loyal to Adolfo.

Suddenly, we stop, I look around and say,

"Álvaro, is that the place?"

"I can't talk." I'm like, "What happened?"

And asked, "Is he dead?"

And he said, "I can't talk."

We got into the elevator and suddenly...

I get this feeling like, "No, no."

I try to stop the elevator, he pushes my hand down.

and says, "No, I have orders."

The door opened, I got off, and I see him smoking a cigar.

I just stare at him and say, "Adolfo, what is this?

What happened? Why are you doing this?"

"I just wanted to see you. To talk to you."

I grab my bag and say, "You scared me to death!"

I threw it at him, he ducks, and it hits the wall.

He picks it up and sets it aside.

I said, "Why are you doing this to me?"

But I felt scared, I had a bad feeling, a bitter taste in my mouth.

He said, "Look,

things in Matamoros are tough now.

I need your help with a spell."

I said, "First, I need to talk to my mother

to let her know I'm here."

"Call her when we get to one of my godsons house.

I need to see him."

We got to his godson's house

and we went up to the fourth floor.

It was gloomy, it was dark, very damp.

Near the door, there were a few police jackets.

POLICE OFFICERS WHO PROTECTED THE DEMONS ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION

Federal Police. Judicial Police.

There was a tiny room and he said, "Wait here."

But I needed the phone.

"I need to make a call first," he said. And I heard him start yelling.

"Crap!", he said. "Are you sure? Are you sure?

What is going on? Crap!"

He slams the phone down.

He comes up to me and says, "Wait here."

I hear them run down the stairs.

I stay by the door and make a call.

No one was picking up,

so I decide to call Beba, a neighbor, and she picks up.

I'm like, "Beba?" She said, "Sara? Honey, where are you?"

I said, "Why, Beba? What happened?"

She said, "Your friends are on TV, honey!

They say they've killed a lot of people."

I said, "What, Beba?"

She said, "Your dad's going crazy looking for you.

Your mom had a heart attack, she's in the ER."

I said, "Beba, I'm coming."

I hung up, got out, went down the stairs and I heard the door,

and I said, "No, it can't be," and it was Adolfo.

He looks at me from the staircase and says,

"Where are you going?"

He grabs my hair and pulls me up.

He throws me on the bed, turns the TV on.

He just turned it on, he didn't look for a specific channel,

he cranked the volume up and said, "Scream if you want.

Cry out if you want. But you're not leaving."

And he's on the news.

Police have also identified the ringleader of the group,

a Cuban national named Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo.

He was referred to as "Padrino" or "Godfather."

The suspects have said he told them when and how to kill.

So I said, "What?"

And he's like, "What? There. Now you know."

I said, "What is this, Adolfo?"

And he said, "That's it. The ranchers.

They said stuff and there you go."

The four men arrested in Matamoros, Mexico,

admitted to committing ritualistic killings at a Mexican farm

to get protection for their drug dealings.

The news on TV ran day and night.

Before the press, they confessed to kidnapping random victims

and carving them up as ritual sacrifices.

He said, "Did you know you're on TV?"

They're looking for Sara Aldrete, 24, considered extremely dangerous.

They showed my picture, "the priestess," my name,

Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo's lover.

Suddenly, Adolfo pulls me out of the room

and grabs my hair.

He pulled me by the hair and I started to feel the pull.

And I saw how my hair was being pulled out

and I said, "What are you doing? Adolfo, what is this?"

He cut my hair with a serrated knife.

Álvaro comes in,

with a bag and hair dye,

and he said, "How does it work? Let's see, Omar.

How does it work?"

So Omar looks at it and says,

"It's hair dye. But are we using this color?"

He said, "Do it."

And then, "Sorry, but you're not leaving."

I sat down, dumbfounded.

I didn't know what was going on and Adolfo comes in.

He'd come in again and again, and I'd beg to be let go,

and Martín said, "No, get it? You're not leaving.

All because of those assholes."

He grabbed me and we left.

We got to like a crossing

and there were traffic lights, and they turned red.

We stopped, a car came up, and it was the police.

I turn around and say, "The cops are here, right?"

And Adolfo turned around,

saw them

and said, "We're public enemy number one."

And he starts laughing, right?

Director Sánchez also announced the hunt for two people,

Sara María Villareal Aldrete and Adolfo Constanzo.

These people are dangerous...

When the news came on, they'd listen for a while

and then change the station and listen to music.

Back then, the most popular song was "La Negra Tomasa."

Caifanes.

THE FBI, IN THE US, IS AIDING THE SEARCH

TRACKING SATANIC TEMPLES

THEY'RE AFTER DEVIL WORSHIPPERS

THIS 47 PAPAGAYOS ST HOUSE IS PROPERTY OF "THE GODFATHER."

He lived in a house with a huge room.

Behind the mirrors, he had two vaults for all his money.

Gold coins, gold bars, so much money.

THIS IS WHERE THE LEADER MIGHT BE HIDDEN

That house also had all the recordings

from his CCTV cameras.

Back then, we used actual tapes.

He'd record every godchild's visit,

every person who'd visit, and some of the ceremonies.

When he left the house,

he sent Martín to get the money as collateral.

He asked Martín, "How much did you get?"

And Martín said, "Two million."

"Crap! Why not more?"

"It won't fit," he said. "It won't fit."

Adolfo was so angry, so, so angry about that.

Especially at Martín, because he'd left notebooks he shouldn't have.

They had names,

and also numbers of some of his godchildren.

We hit the road, then we pulled up by a pay phone.

He made some calls that I couldn't hear.

All I knew was he wanted to talk to his godchildren.

They told him what road to take,

and where he already had a reservation made in so and so's name.

We went up and up, like a hill or something,

and we got to a cabin,

and dogs start howling, it was so...

And suddenly, Martín looks out and says,

"Adolfo, remember the howl of Jorge's dogs

when we killed Claudia?"

And he starts laughing and says, "Crap!"

They start talking

about killing Claudia.

Claudia, this, Claudia, that.

I thought it was a woman.

THEY DISMEMBERED "CLAUDIA" AT A BLACK MASS

ONE OF THE SUSPECTS CONFESSES TO HIS INVOLVEMENT IN "CLAUDIA"

The press linked a lot of cases to the Narcosatanists.

A year before, Claudia's body had been found.

That's the name they used.

It was Ramón Paz Esquivel, AKA Claudia Ivette Bonjour.

He went by that name,

he was an antiques dealer in the Zona Rosa business district.

So we followed the trail. When we put it all together...

This is where they killed Claudia.

This is Jorge Montes Gutiérrez, AKA "Cartabrava."

Jorge was a very chill guy.

He was into white magic.

He didn't do any dark magic. He was a very relaxed guy.

He didn't mess with people. He was old.

He was Adolfo's godson, he was a santero.

He was respected because he was very good at Santeria.

So after a while, I realize that Claudia was a man

and that Jorge rented out the attic to him.

He had some big problem with Jorge, and Jorge complained,

and then Jorge told his Godfather,

"You know what, Godfather? I'm having trouble with Claudia."

So they went there and Adolfo said no one messes with his godson.

They took him to the bathroom, and killed him,

and started to cut him open like it was a butcher shop.

They took the skin off his face, his fingerprints.

It was like a madhouse, it was unbelievable.

I couldn't be hearing this,

it was like they were trying to scare me.

Martín's eyes suddenly turned, like...

Like red, like he was about to cry,

like...

Teary, red.

That wasn't the Martín I hung out with, the one I knew, the one I cared about,

the one I'd given my friendship to, no.

Martín... Martín changed so much.

It was an ugly transformation, it was so...

He'd give orders to Adolfo,

even though Adolfo had so much power, Adolfo made decisions, moved, did stuff.

That's when Martín would say,

"No, we can't do this. Think.

Let's do that instead."

And Adolfo would say, "Okay, let me think, let me think."

So we pulled up by a pay phone.

He gets out with Martín,

this time Álvaro stays, with Omar and I.

He was like two yards away, where the pay phone was,

and he started talking on the phone

and getting mad.

He hung up and told Martín, "I talked to Chava

and he said, 'Godfather, I can't do a lot right now

because I'm pretty sure that they're watching and listening in.'

Crap, Martín!

Why are all these people turning their backs on me?"

And Martín said, "I don't trust them, Adolfo. I told you.

They're going to betray us.

I told you, Adolfo, I'm telling you. You won't listen."

And Adolfo said, "You're driving me insane!

I don't know, let me think! Enough, enough of all this."

And they talked.

Omar and I just turned around to figure out what to do, how to run.

I thought, "I need to leave, I have to run, just run.

Should I open the door? What do I do? What?"

And Omar grabbed the door handle

and suddenly Adolfo came back and said,

"So we're on our own. From now on, it's just us."

MARTÍN QUINTANA ASKED JUDICIAL POLICE HEAD FOR HELP

NO LEADS ABOUT SATANIC LEADER

THEY'RE SEARCHING FOR SARA AND "GODFATHER" IN CHICAGO

It'd been two or three weeks, and Constanzo and Sara had disappeared.

We couldn't find them.

Commander Juan Benítez Ayala brought someone in.

A Mexican warlock.

So, the warlock said, "Want to smoke him out?

Burn the house down.

If we burn it down, Constanzo will lose his mind."

That was his Nganga, that was his god.

That pot was his whole life.

We got there on a Sunday morning.

The warlock had a picture of Constanzo,

I signed the back

and Juan Benítez Ayala signed it, too.

And we put it in the Nganga.

We filled it with gas and we tossed it. There was a huge fire burning it all up.

We went to a local network in Matamoros, on TV,

he filmed it and made it public

for all of Mexico and the US so they'd see it burnt down.

When Constanzo saw it was being burnt down,

he lost his head.

We made a choice. It was a good idea.

It was important for me to catch Constanzo, to catch Sara.

THE TEMPLE HAS BEEN BURNT DOWN

THE POLICE PUT AN END TO THE SATANIC MAGIC SHIELD

Adolfo got more and more paranoid.

He said he wouldn't make it to jail, that he'd be killed.

He said he wouldn't let his godchildren know,

that he wouldn't call these assholes

because he was being betrayed, left out in the cold.

He said he couldn't trust anyone, and we were his only family.

So Martín asked, "Where are we going, Adolfo?"

He said, "Where are they looking for us?"

Martín said, "Everywhere outside of Mexico City.

Some say we're here, others say we're there,

or up north in the US, or down south in Guatemala,

that we crossed the border or we're in Acapulco!"

"Okay, let's go to Mexico City then."

We go over to his goddaughter's. Karla's was her code name.

But her name was María del Rocío Cuevas.

So he sends Álvaro and Karla out

to find a place

and they find one in the Cuauhtémoc district,

on Río Sena street.

We go up, he took a suitcase.

It was a big, huge, black, fat suitcase.

When they moved it,

Martín helped Álvaro carry it on his back, and dropped it.

It seemed very heavy.

And Adolfo got there and said,

"Okay, you're staying here."

He took a piece of cloth,

he tied my hand up, just one hand, and one foot.

I felt drained of energy.

I had no strength anymore.

I didn't want to think, I didn't want anything at all.

I didn't want to talk or even see him.

He came up to me and said I should get a plastic surgeon.

"Call a cab, go, but come back. I'll be waiting."

I remember Álvaro brought me down, but I didn't...

I didn't walk a whole lot, I walked a little and gave up.

I couldn't move my legs.

I stayed there,

and suddenly I got up, I saw a pay phone...

I picked up the receiver...

I couldn't even think. I was super confused.

I saw cars go by, police cars, and I'd stare at them.

Then Álvaro came and said,

"Let's go. Hang up."

Crap! Sorry, but they're...

Adolfo always said, "crap." If you want to go...

If they give you money to go get surgery,

and you're out there, and you're innocent,

you have to call the cops.

I don't know what kind of love he had for me.

I guess it was sadistic.

Crazy, I guess...

A slow death.

"You are my family, I am part of your family.

We are a family. We are all that's left."

Then he'd get there, and yell,

and just ramble.

He'd gesticulate, hit the walls.

He was like, "I'll kill you all. We're all going to die here.

I'm going to kill you all.

I'm going to kill you. And you, too."

He'd get there...

He'd get his gun out, he'd press it to my belly,

and then slowly move up, and put it up here,

and push my head back.

He'd say, "I'm going to shoot you on three.

One, two..."

I would feel my head explode, like this.

Like a bang.

On May 6th, he comes up to me and says, "You look so yellow.

It's not yellow anymore. You're green.

I'm going to let you out for a bit."

And then said, "Walk, walk."

He even got me a broom.

"Sweep the floor a bit here."

So I got up, I was so dizzy,

and the first thing I did

was look inside a desk that was on this side.

I found an envelope and I ripped it up.

I found a pen and I started writing.

"Help me, please!

The people you're looking for are here. They're keeping a woman hostage.

Please, help her. They're going to kill her.

Help me."

That's all I wrote on that piece of paper.

I kept walking around

and Adolfo would turn around, and look at the clock,

and then at me.

Then, at one point, I looked out and saw a yellow van.

There was a guy smoking down there.

He threw the cigarette away, a woman walked by,

she laughed, said something, he turned around,

and I went...

And he said, "What?"

I threw the piece of paper at him and walked on.

I turned around and he was reading it.

They turned and looked up at me and I kept walking,

I just went, "Please, please."

When I came back, they were gone.

That was one of Adolfo's favorite songs.

He loved to sing it, act it out, and everything.

We'd laugh a lot.

I wonder if his godchildren,

all those big shots in the Government,

law enforcement, everywhere...

If they knew what kind of godfather they had,

seeing him like this, you know?

MEXICO CITY MAY 6th, 1989

I'm Federico Ponce Rojas, I'm a lawyer.

At the time we're talking about,

my job was similar to a DA

for the city.

It was Saturday morning and I was going to my office.

On the way there, I heard on the radio

that a building was being surrounded.

The police chief and his officers apparently had found

a message that said, "I'm being held hostage."

Suddenly, we heard a radio

and Adolfo ran out

and started screaming, "They're here, they found us!"

When the Godfather Constanzo sees all those officers,

he starts shooting.

And chaos ensues.

The Preventive Police

didn't know exactly where this person was

and shot at an apartment that didn't belong to them.

I get there right in the middle of it.

Bullets were flying by and hitting the walls.

Pieces of it were blown off, but I kept down.

Things broke on this side, on that side,

glass, everything in the apartment, I mean...

Apparently, the so-called Godfather

was terribly agitated.

"Sons of bitches. You're all going to fall.

All of you! All of you!"

So, to catch our attention, Godfather Constanzo

started throwing out the window dollar bills on fire

and he keeps shooting and yelling insults.

"There's your money, bitches," and so on.

Every glass was broken.

Everything was broken and Adolfo,

"Crap, this is a betrayal. I won't go to jail!

We're going to die, we're going to die!"

And we decided to go in.

I said, "No, I'm leaving." I saw the staircase and went down.

"Get out, get out!"

I saw that chubby, gray-haired man

and I stopped him, grabbed him by the chest and said,

"Sir, I was upstairs,"

and he got grazed by a bullet, he threw me against the wall,

and another cop grabbed me and said,

"Protect her, protect her, she's the key!"

He pulled me away and Omar came out after me.

When I left, I said, "Thank God, it's over.

It's done, it's over, my nightmare is over."

But I never thought

my second nightmare was just starting.