Kevin Siapno

“Penitenza” Members of the Sicilian mafia must burn an image of a saint as part of their initiation. When death begins to approach, an aging mafioso would traditionally receive the “rite of penance”, in which he would ask a priest for complete forgiveness of all of his atrocities.

“Shabbat” Sam “Red” Levine was an American mobster who headed Lucky Luciano’s sect of Jewish gangsters during the Great Depression. He was famously known for refraining to kill on the Sabbath. A more contemporary figure, Moshe Mastri, nicknamed “The Religious ”, is an Israeli drug lord who uses his large physique to intimidate his enemies, but would never partake in violence anytime within the Sabbath. Investigators who have wiretapped Mastri’s home noted that the phone line would cut off every Friday evening to Saturday evening.

“Samsara” The Thuggee was a secret cult of organized bandits who roamed the Indian subcontinent for six hundred years, forming around the 1300’s. Consisting of both Muslim and Hindu members, they were known as ardent devotees of Kali, the goddess of death and destruction. The Thuggee believed that through their acts of theft and murder they were helping Kali maintain the worldly balance of good and evil.

“Tserkov” Russian prison gangs are well known for their intricate system of tattooing. Borrowing heavily from Christian Orthodox iconography, each tattoo is meant to be a coded symbol detailing a convict’s criminal history. The penitentiary has become a sanctuary for most of these men whom after years of being outcasts, are more than happy to join a community where they are finally accepted.

“Hoafst” The Harmses are a family of Mennonite farmers from Leamington, Ontario who became notorious for setting up a drug-running operation, smuggling narcotics from Mexico into the United States and Canada. It took years for police to finally take notice mainly due to the community’s reputation as a God-fearing people and their tendency to avoid mainstream society as much as possible.

“Ismael” The Los Santos Malandros of Caracas, Venezuela, are statues of deceased gangsters who were venerated into saintly status by the city’s lower class. The statue of the Robin Hood figure Ismael Sanchez, characterized by his sideways cap, dark sunglasses, and cigarette, is often given offerings of alcohol and marijuana in hopes of good luck and protection. This form of criminal worship is a clear product of this culture of violence brought upon by the marginalization and lack of government support within the slums of one of the world’s most violent cities.

“Narcolimosnas” Mexican drug lords donating drug money to Catholic establishments have become such a highly reported occurrence that journalists have now given it a term: “narcolimosnas”, narcotic alms. Heriberto Lazcano, leader of the Los Zetas cartel, was allegedly among the most generous patrons of the church, having helped fund a number of chapels and parishes as well as youth activities and community events. A plaque can be found on a certain chapel near Pachuca, Mexico, recognizing Lazcano’s goodwill.

“Nganga” Ruben Hernandez was a used car dealer from Downey, California who was accused of defrauding banks of about $4 million through purchasing homes using fake social security numbers and fake bank accounts. While searching through Hernandez’s house, investigators found a shrine consisting of punctured dolls that had strong resemblances to the suspect’s prosecutors. Hernandez, a practitioner of the Afro-Cuban religion of Palo Mayombe, later claimed that the pins on the dolls were a form of “spiritual acupuncture” to make them see the good in him.

“Salvation” The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a Mormon fundamentalist group infamous for retaining the traditional practice of polygamy. They have been consistently criticized for welfare fraud, child/forced labour, mistreatment of women, and child marriages. The group’s incumbent president and self-proclaimed prophet, Warren S. Jeffs, is currently serving a sentence of life plus twenty years after being convicted of two felony accounts of child sexual assault.

“Liaokao” Ever since the formation of the Chinese Triad in the 18th century, Buddhism has played an important role as a philosophical influence and continues to permeate rituals of the syndicate to this day. A key Buddhist component is the idea of freeing oneself of all earthly possessions in order to reach full enlightenment. Triad members must face a constant struggle as they find themselves in between two conflicting lifestyles: one of materialism and excess, the other of abstention from all forms of indulgence.

Bless the Sinners