Four men and a woman have died after drinking a poisoned potion during a Santeria ritual in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, authorities said Wednesday.
The five victims, who ranged in age from 18 to 55, drank the potion “to acquire some certain kind of powers,” according to Iván García Alvarez, the Oaxaca state police chief.
The victims are believed to be part of the same family, Telediario Mx reported.
Authorities, who believe the potion was prepared by victims, are investigating the incident as a group suicide.
According to García Alvarez, their bodies were found late last week at a home in the small community of Trinidad de Viguera, just north of the state capital, Oaxaca de Juárez. There were no apparent signs of injuries, he noted.
Investigators are still working to determine what was mixed into the potion.
“Our main focus now was to establish the cause of the poisoning,” Jorge Goméz Guerreiro, with the Oaxaca attorney general’s office, told Mexican TV station Imagen Noticias. “From then, we were able to find some products that are used in Santeria rituals.”
Santeria is a syncretic religion that originated in Cuba in the late 19th century and is based on the traditions of the Yoruba religion of West Africa, Catholicism and Spiritism.
Some religious and shamanic rituals have involved the use of hallucinogenic substances, but it’s still unclear if there were any traces of such products in the poisoned potion.
With Wire News Sources
