Creel Killings: Massacre of Family Escalates Mexican Drug Wars
Trafficking cartels fighting each other and the authorities, while only tiny proportion of hitmen are arrested
The sleepy atmosphere of the tourist mountain town of Creel in northern Mexico was blown apart this weekend when a heavily armed gang attacked 14 locals as they chatted on a street. All but one died.
Witnesses told police that the assassins got out of three vehicles on Saturday evening and began walking towards their targets while firing. About 10 minutes later they drove off. A search for the killers by soldiers and police continued yesterday but with little likelihood of success.
The motive for the assault is not clear but the firepower involved suggests a link to the intensifying drug wars in which trafficking cartels are fighting each other and the authorities, and only a tiny proportion of the hitmen involved are arrested.
President Felipe Calderón launched a military-led offensive against the cartels in 2006 in an attempt to rein in already violent turf wars. Instead, the carnage has got steadily worse. The national newspaper El Universal reported on Saturday that drug-related assassinations this year have already topped the 2,673 deaths in 2007.
About a third of this year's killings have been in Chihuahua state, where Creel is located. Tourists cowered as the sound of gunfire echoed through the town.
Carlos González, a police spokesman, said most of the victims were related to the appointed mayor of Creel and had no link to organized crime. One was a baby.
The indiscriminate killings reflect a trend in Mexico's drug wars in which severed heads dumped outside shops in cool boxes or torture videos posted on YouTube are losing their power to shock.
Witnesses told police that the assassins got out of three vehicles on Saturday evening and began walking towards their targets while firing. About 10 minutes later they drove off. A search for the killers by soldiers and police continued yesterday but with little likelihood of success.
The motive for the assault is not clear but the firepower involved suggests a link to the intensifying drug wars in which trafficking cartels are fighting each other and the authorities, and only a tiny proportion of the hitmen involved are arrested.
President Felipe Calderón launched a military-led offensive against the cartels in 2006 in an attempt to rein in already violent turf wars. Instead, the carnage has got steadily worse. The national newspaper El Universal reported on Saturday that drug-related assassinations this year have already topped the 2,673 deaths in 2007.
About a third of this year's killings have been in Chihuahua state, where Creel is located. Tourists cowered as the sound of gunfire echoed through the town.
Carlos González, a police spokesman, said most of the victims were related to the appointed mayor of Creel and had no link to organized crime. One was a baby.
The indiscriminate killings reflect a trend in Mexico's drug wars in which severed heads dumped outside shops in cool boxes or torture videos posted on YouTube are losing their power to shock.
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