Agents from the Citizen Assistance Office (OAC) of the Integral Police Station of the Usera District of the Municipal Police discovered illegal activities in two Santeria stores in the neighborhood. What is most striking, in addition to the illegal material seized, is that they found altars to perform rituals in which, presumably, animals were sacrificed. Some of them, from Central America and exotic. Four people are under investigation.
The two inspections took place on September 5. The first, at 1 p.m., took place on Marcelo Usera Street, where a 63-year-old Venezuelan woman runs El Reino Esoterico. In the windows displayed for sale, there were portions of vegetables, especially the “bulnesia sarmientoi,” commonly known as palo de santo. They found other pieces behind the counter, totaling 289 pieces of this wood.
On the other hand, the woman and her 38-year-old daughter, who was also in the establishment, were selling palo santo bracelets. Police sources specify that this material cannot be commercialized, because the CITES agreement (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) classifies it as a protected species.
They also lacked import and health certificates. When the municipal police questioned the owner about the origin of the palo de santo, she replied: “I bought it online from a company in Peru.” But he was unable to provide any documentation on this. A report was drawn up due to environmental regulations and the material was seized. She is accused of an alleged crime against wild flora or fauna and the case has been referred to the Judicial Commission of the Madrid Municipal Police.
Galapagos and Cuban Jutias
That same day, at 1:40 p.m., the same Usera patrol went to Calle de los Ferroviarios, 19, where El Poder de Orula is located, run by a Cuban couple aged 45 and 40. The establishment is named after the greatest orisha of divination in Yoruba Santeria. There was a wicker tray on display with 18 portions of palo de santo that, again, did not have an import permit.
Jutia dissected
In addition, the agents found a shell of a leper tortoise, a member of the “geoemydidae” family, an aquatic turtle native to the Iberian Peninsula, particularly common in rivers and marshes in southern Spain. “It has a certain degree of protection,” sources in the case told ABC. They also did not present any supporting documentation or anything to certify its legal origin.
The sources of the file indicate that this place operates in a semi-clandestine way, almost behind closed doors, since inside Cuban ceremonies or rites take place, for which there were several altars and boxes with food for the roosters that they sacrifice. There was also a stuffed hutia hanging from the ceiling, a type of mammal native to Cuba.
Usera’s OAC was made from toxic seeds of “Abrus precatorius” (also known as American licorice or rosary pea), which are on the health alert network due to their toxic nature to the touch. He had purchased them without an invoice from another Santeria in the center that has already been sanctioned on other occasions for irregularities.
