http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1583
http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1305
The Princeton Township woman told her friend she was looking for her luck to change. She needed positive energy and hoped to rid her home of evil spirits.
Her friend, who later told police his name was Joaquin Ramirez, was a Santero, a priest of sorts who practiced Santeria, an Afro-Caribbean religion http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1262 to voodoo.
According to police, Ramirez told her he had just what she needed. He had picked up mercury at a New Brunswick store known as a botanica that was selling supplies and other religious items, according to police. An injection of mercury, or “azogue” in Spanish, would cleanse her of evil spirits and bring luck and wealth to her life.
But instead of good fortune, what the woman got after receiving the shot of the liquid metal on Nov. 22 was a trip to the hospital to treat a life-threatening case of mercury poisoning. Ramirez, 24, of French Street in New Brunswick, faces charges of aggravated assault and practicing medicine without a license.While Santeria remains a closed and secretive religion, the incident in Princeton and others like it have shed some light on what some experts say is a potentially deadly secret: use of elemental mercury.
Opinions differ on just how great a problem religious mercury use presents. Some, like Mercury Poisoning Project Director Arnold Wendroff, say the problem is potentially far-reaching, affecting thousands of Santeria practitioners and their families.
“This is really an enormous issue,” said Wendroff.
http://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1197869442242410.xml&coll=5
http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1328