Authorities in Mexico announced Friday that they discovered bodies and human remains believed to be those of 10 workers who went missing from a gold and silver mine in northern Sinaloa last month. The Sinaloa state prosecutor’s office said the remains were recovered in El Verde, in the municipality of Concordia, where the mine is located.
The Mexican Attorney General’s Office did not specify how many bodies were recovered but said one of the remains had “characteristics of one of the people reported as missing.” Officials have not yet formally identified the victims. Prosecutors said they are taking steps to confirm identities and collect evidence from a grave in Concordia where several bodies were found. Four people have been arrested on suspicion of having ties to the disappearances.
Vancouver-based miner Vizsla Silver reported on January 28 that 10 people had been kidnapped and said it had alerted authorities and was searching for the missing workers. Security Minister Omar Garcia said the area where the miners disappeared is controlled by the Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by the sons of former drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Authorities have not established a motive for the group’s kidnapping, which relatives and Reuters interviews indicate followed threats from organized crime groups in the region, including the Chapitos. Cartel-related violence and turf battles have been ongoing in Sinaloa for more than a year. In response, the federal government increased troop deployments to the state and launched an operation to locate the workers.
Edited by: Sean Sinico