Cops: Virgin Saint Hid a Secret—Until She Leaked It

Trail of fuel leads cops to altar in Mexico used for smuggling

By Newser Editors and Wire Services

Posted Feb 23, 2017 12:03 PM CST

Copied

Cops: Virgin Saint Hid a Secret—Until She Leaked It — Pope Francis stands in front of an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Ecatepec, Mexico, last year. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

Altars to the Virgin of Guadalupe are ubiquitous at businesses across Mexico. Now federal police say one has even been used in a gasoline-smuggling racket in the central state of Puebla, reports the AP. Police said Tuesday that a trail of fuel leaking into the street in San Martin Texmelucan led them into a lot with an altar to Mexico's patron saint with an unusual red hose protruding from it. As they approached, a man carrying a gun got out of a vehicle and tried to flee. Police say they eventually caught him, and five other people accused of filling up from the Virgin's tap, which would've involved illegal drilling into a fuel pipeline. (Read more Mexico stories.)