10 Miners from Canada Were Abducted in Mexico, Possibly by Cartel Members, Says Official By KC Baker

Authorities in Mexico are searching for ten workers from a Canadian company who were abducted from a mining site on Jan. 24.

On Wed., Jan. 28, Vancouver-based Vizla Silver Corp. announced in a statement that ten individuals were taken from a mining project site in Concordia, Mexico. 

“Local authorities have been notified, and the company’s crisis management and security response teams are actively engaged,” the company said in the statement. 

The company’s immediate priority “is the safety and well-being of the individuals involved,” it said.

“As a precautionary measure, certain activities at and near the site have been temporarily suspended,” it said.

The miners were abducted on Saturday, Jan. 24, Mexican Security and Citizen Protection Secretary Omar García Harfuch said during a press conference, the CBC reports.

Federal and state authorities in Mexico are searching for missing miners, who were kidnapped at the same time, he said.

He said authorities are investigating whether a cartel faction in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, where the mining operation is located, is involved in the kidnapping.

“What we know is there were no previous threats or interference with employees of this company,” Harfuch said, NewsNation reports. “A cell of Los Chapitos operates in that area. We have identified one of the leaders in that area and we also are looking for him.”

The abduction came to authorities’ attention on Jan. 24, when a legal representative from the company called 911, the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office said in a statement on Jan. 29.

An investigation was opened and the Attorney General’s Office began working with federal authorities, including the Sinaloa State Search Commission and the Ministry of National Defense, for the implementation to search for the missing miners, it said.

“As part of these actions, a search warrant, duly authorized by the competent judicial authority, was executed on January 27th of this year,” it said.

On Thursday, Jan. 29, the Mexican government sent 1,600 additional troops to Sinaloa after someone fired gunshots at two members of the Citizens’ Movement party in Culiacán, the state capital, the CBC reports.

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Harfuch said his top priority is finding the miners.

“We want to tell the relatives of the victims that the entire Cabinet will not stop searching for them and that we are participating (with state authorities) in the investigation,” he said, the CBC reports. 

“The National Defense Secretariat and the Navy have a strong presence there, and the Secretary (of the Army) has sent reinforcements.”