Looks like my hidden agenda has been exposed. The last paragraph tells all:
An elaborate, jewel-inlaid religious icon has become the subject of a federal forfeiture suit against a convicted Reynosa drug boss.
Prosecutors allege that Carlos Landín-Martinez — a 52-year-old former Tamaulipas police officer turned second-in-command of Gulf Cartel operations in Reynosa — purchased the gold jewelry with proceeds from drug smuggling operations within the United States.
Landín-Martinez was wearing the piece when agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested him at a local H-E-B in July.
In the form of a pendant, it features the image of Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, inlaid with 128 diamonds, 36 emeralds and one ruby, according to an affidavit filed in the case. It is appraised at a value of more than $12,000.
“Persons who engage in large-scale drug trafficking tend to wear expensive gold jewelry as visible proof that they have been successful,” DEA agent Jaime A. Fernandez said in the document. They wear it “as evidence that they are criminals of consequence.”
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