For the most part, they merely retrenched on the other side of the dried riverbed of the Rio Nazas, in neighboring Gomez Palacio. Furthermore, the local rivals of the Zetas did not disappear from the scene. Īs a result of the Zetas operations in Torreon, crimes like extortion, kidnapping, and carjacking also skyrocketed, as the new gang used activities beyond drug trafficking to supplement their income. The intervening years have brought to the region some of the worst manifestations of Mexican criminal violence: decapitations, mass killings, attacks on government officials, and accusations of police infiltration. As detailed in "Cronicas de Sangre," by Ricardo Ravelo, and numerous other sources, upon their arrival, the Zetas attacked the Sinaloa-backed boss who had controlled the region, and embarked on a campaign of intimidation of local business and political leaders.
The reason for the increase in violence is simple: the arrival of the Zetas in 2007, after years of the local drug trade having been controlled by more subdued capos from Sinaloa. Torreon, the largest of the cities in La Laguna, had been the site of 606 murders this year as of October 10. The metropolitan region known as La Laguna - which spans Torreon and Matamoros in the state of Coahuila, as well as Gomez Palacio and Lerdo in Durango - suffered 830 murders through the first nine months of 2012, according to newspaper reports. A new article examines the dilemmas stemming from the recent increase in violence in Torreon, a northern Mexico city emblematic of the nation's struggles.Īs reported by Reuters, Torreon, once a beacon of peace and development in Mexico's blood-soiled north, is now second only to Acapulco in its annual murder rate.
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