Patron Saint Of Drugs Statue Leads To Arrests
A Malverde statue like the one found on the dashboard of the car If you're going to be transporting 50 kilos of cocaine in the trunk of your car, it's probably not a wise move to proudly display the statue of Mexico's patron saint of the underworld in your car. It's a lesson a pair of area men learned the hard way this weekend. Also? Don't park your car facing the wrong direction on the street that leads right to Cook County Sheriff's Police HQ. That's the initial violation that led sheriff's officers to investigate the car on Saturday night and during the investigation of the vehicle they spotted a statue of Jesús Malverde, considered the "narco-saint" in Mexico and the United States by drug traffickers. They also discovered that the driver, Jose Ramirez-Rodriguez, didn't have a license and a search of the car turned up 50 kilos of cocaine - worth around $19 million on the street - in the trunk, leading to the arrest of Ramirez-Rodriguez and his passenger Efrain Rodriguez-Juarez. A CPD officer told the Sun-Times of the appearance of the Malverde statue: "It definitely raises a flag. It tells you the guy might be prone to the kind of violence you see every day in Mexico." The men were charged with manufacturing/delivery of more than 900 grams of cocaine and possession of more than 900 grams of cocaine and are each being held on $1 million bond.