Masacradas en Creel

Languid at the best of times, the mountain calm of Creel was brutally shattered in August 2008 when a heavily armed gang massacred thirteen locals as they chatted on a street. Most of the victims were related to Eliseo Loya Ochoa, Creel’s sectional president, and (allegedly) had no link to organized crime. One was just a baby. Blame was laid on Mexico’s escalating drug wars. None of the culprits was caught, leading hundreds of angry residents to protest and, for a few hours at least, block the train from passing through Creel. One report suggested the killings were linked to illegal horse racing; others claimed that it was retribution for a hit a couple of weeks before (one of the thirteen was said to have a link to the group that carried out that killing). Whatever the truth, family members are still fighting for justice (taking their case to the Inter-American Commission of Human rights in 2009) and the masacrados are commemorated by a makeshift memorial in Chihuahua. Things were back to normal by 2009, and as a tourist, you should have nothing to worry about.