Actress Dead After Participating in Dangerous Ritual

Mexican actress Marcela Alcázar Rodríguez, 33, died Sunday after reportedly participating in a high-risk ritual involving poisonous frog venom in the Mexican state of Durango.

The actress willingly consumed the Amazonian frog venom as part of a longstanding spiritual cleansing ritual endemic to indigenous South American cultures, according to Infobae, an Argentine outlet. Rodríguez suffered a severe reaction to the poison and was taken to a Red Cross hospital, where she died.

Rodríguez reportedly began vomiting and expelling severe diarrhea shortly after ingesting the venom, which is known to be poisonous to humans.

Jonathan Moreno, the shaman administrating the ritual, allegedly refused to allow the actress to leave for a hospital following the onset of her symptoms and fled the scene thereafter, according to the outlet. She later went to a Red Cross hospital after a friend arrived and noticed her worsening condition. . .

“Kambo,” the ritual substance in question, is known to be a dangerous concoction with the potential for unpleasant, even deadly side effects. The Amazonian giant monkey frog secretes a venomous substance as a defense mechanism against predators, and some humans apply the substance to their body believing it wards off bad luck and benefits health, according to Healthline. (Read more from “Actress Dead After Participating in Dangerous Ritual” HERE)