by The Man In Black.
Item #C-287
Contacts: BARNES, CHARLIE, Dr. Fulani
Cases: ADG.SI-0023 , ADG.SI-0024, ADG.SI-0025, ADG.KS-0026
Description
A set of four sealed transparent lucite blocks 9x12x1 inches in dimension; containing flattened sheets of leathery material which appear tattooed or decorated with inks. Extensive scientific analysis may reveal that the leathery material is human skin preserved by an ancient Egyptian method (dried with natron and then preserved with beeswax and distilled juniper oils).
Block #1 - Large forearm tattoo, nine inches in height. It depicts a skeletal female dressed in blue and white Catholic-style robes similar to those worn by nuns and in certain depictions of the Virgin Mary. Writing coronating the figure reads "Santa Muerte" - Saint Death, a Mexican syncrestic religious figure linked to the Aztec goddess Mictecacihuatl. This skin was taken from Tito Garcia, an Tijuana gang leader with ties to the Spinoza Cartel in Colombia. Garcia has been missing since 2007.
Block #2 - Upper arm tattoo depicting a female skull veiled with intricate blue and black lace. This figure is identifiable as
Mictecacihuatl - the Aztec goddess of death and the underworld, possibly connected to La Llorona (the Crying Woman), a figure from urban folklore. This skin was taken from Adriana Vega, an undercover agent for the DEA. She went missing in Tijuana sometime during 2007.
Block #3 - Abdomen tattoo depicting a primitive three horned humanoid figure. This is Bosou Koblamin - a voodoo loa said to protect his followers when they travel at night. This skin was taken from Hermann Gutierrez, a Mexican police officer killed during a cartel ambush in Ciudad Juarez in 2005.
Block #4 - Lower arm interior marking of a human eye done in a stylized Egyptian or hieroglyphic motif. Upon closer examination, it is not a tattoo, but more closely resembles a birthmark or inherent discoloration. The underside of the skin directly beneath the discoloration remains constantly raw and wet with blood (0/1 SAN Loss). This skin was taken from Cassilda Dabara, a New York City occultist and fortune-teller.
History
These items, and numerous others, were seized following the 2008 arrest of Jesus Mercado, a Mexican ex-police officer and practicing Santeros (a priest of the Santaria religious tradition). Mercado was apprehended by New York City police in Cassilda Dabara's Brooklyn loft above "Talismans", her New Age and Wiccan supply store. He had apparently been living there for several months while conducting professional contract killings for a variety of local drug crews.
Mercado's ties to the Spinoza Cartel in Colombia attracted the attention of Delta Green elements within the New York FBI, who also managed to connect Jesus to the Quetzal Gang in Tijuana, where he had apparently been residing before arriving in New York City. Most of the items from the Talismans occult shop and loft were cataloged and supposedly shipped to an FBI storage facility in New Jersey. Instead, the items were diverted to a Green Box in Pennsylvania. How Mercado came into possession of the skin blocks or who expertly preserved the skins remains a mystery.
The blocks and some other evidence from Talismans were then transferred to a Green Box in Virginia for forensic analysis. Before they could be analyzed, the forensic expert was found skinned alive in his suburban house, no trace of his skin could be found and several pieces of jewelry were missing from the evidence collection. The remaining items, including the skins, were then distributed elsewhere within the Green Box system where they remain unexamined to this day.
"Dios me guida, ella me cuida."
"En Dios creo, en ti confido."
External Links
- Santa Muerte @ Arcana Wiki
- Mexican police ask spirits to guard them in drug war - some background on the tattoos.