The Mystery of the Santera Who Swindled 13,000 Euros from a Woman in Alicante

A resident of Alicante, overwhelmed by uncertainty after learning of her husband's serious illness diagnosis, turned to a santera through a social network. The alleged healer, part of a fraud scheme, exploited this vulnerability to turn it into a source of income.

For months, she was financially drained, clinging to the false hope that those rituals would improve her husband's health. The woman kept paying, unaware of how she had become ensnared in this spiral. Everything remained silent until a friend, alarmed by the situation, urged her to report the matter to the National Police.

The police operation, named 'Santa', began in May 2025 when the victim filed a complaint at the Provincial Police Station in Alicante. According to her testimony, she had sought the santera's services at a time of physical and psychological weakness, convinced that magic could reverse her husband's deterioration. This emotional environment paved the way for a more elaborate deception: first charges for consultations, then payments for supposed protection rituals, and later, larger transfers.

In total, she sent 12,970 euros. To justify one of these transactions to her bank, she even declared it as a car purchase. When doubts began to arise, the santera's discourse shifted to veiled threats.

She exploited the victim's fragility and even insinuated that she could make other family members ill if payments did not continue. The woman lived in fear for weeks until she decided to inform the National Police.

From there, a police mechanism was activated to unravel the network behind the fraud. However, the santera's identity remains unclear. The numbers from which she sent messages originate from the Dominican Republic and are not linked to any specific person, complicating her location.

What investigators have managed to do is identify the beneficiary of the transfers: a man residing in Valladolid, originally from the Dominican Republic, with a string of criminal records for various offenses, according to police databases. The officers handling the case believe he acted as the financial receiver of the scheme.

Alerted by the Alicante Police Station, the National Police in Valladolid began searching for the suspect. He was located and arrested on the morning of November 19, accused of fraud and extortion. After being brought before the judicial authority, he was released while the investigation continues to identify and apprehend the alleged santera.

Despite the investigation having put a name and face to the individual receiving the transfers, his role within the scheme remains shrouded in mystery. The officers handling the case have been unable to determine whether he acted merely as a financial receiver or if, on the contrary, he was the one managing the profile of the supposed ritual practitioner.

The absence of clear digital traces, combined with the use of phone lines registered in the Dominican Republic, keeps the mystery open: was he just another intermediary in the scam or the very person posing as a healer?