Santa Muerte

I'm way into this Santa Muerte stuff - heard a story about it on All Things Considered and was hooked. Then they had a skull-y icon all up on CNN.com's front page yesterday. Basically, crazy Catholic icon worship in Mexico meets with drug war meets with - well, let's let Aunt Wiki tell it:

This Saint is frequently dressed as a grim
reaper with a scythe and scales (the scales may be reminiscent of St. Michael). She may also
be dressed in a long, white satin gown with a golden crown (Muerte, and its
related Romance words, has a
feminine gender). In this form, many devotees view her as a variation of the Virgin Mary.

Santa Muerte
Blanca
Grim Reaper statues are made in red, white, green and black – for
love, luck, financial success and protection. Offerings to Santa Muerte include
roses, marijuana, cigarettes, fruit, candy and tequila. Public shrines to Saint Death are
adorned with red roses, cigars, and bottles of tequila, [!] and Santa Muerte
candles burn in her honor. Throughout Mexico, and in parts of the United States
(especially in Mexican immigrant communities), Santa Muerte prayer cards,
polichinels, medals, and candles are made and sold to the public.[1] The Santa
Muerte is often patronized by drug traffickers, kidnappers, other criminals, or
by people who live in neighborhoods plagued by violence. Many of the shrines
dedicated to La Santísima Muerte that are located along highways in northern
Mexico were funded by drug traffickers.

It's just a shame that Soderbergh already made Traffic - who else will have the right sepia filter to film the inevitable "true-crime mystery of the millenium!"(Nick Eddy Relents, 2011) ? Maybe Stephen Frears? No, no, that Y Tu Mama Tambien kid!