Witchcraft in Mexico

In secret meetings that draw on elements of Haitian Voodoo, Cuban Santeria and Mexican witchcraft, priests are slaughtering chickens on full moon nights on beaches, smearing Mexican police with the blood and using prayers to evoke spirits to guard them as drug cartels battle over smuggling routes into California. Other police in the Mexican city of Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, tattoo their bodies with Voodoo symbols, believing they can repel bullets. Mexican priests and police say the animal sacrifices release life to rejuvenate spirits that will shield officers against killers. They believe the effects are intensified on full moon nights. Many Mexican police see a need to shield themselves from witchcraft used by drug gangs who mix Caribbean black magic and occultism from southern Mexico using things like human bones, dead bats and snake fangs to curse enemies and unleash evil spirits.