A Vancouver-based mining company says 10 of its employees were abducted from one of its project sites in the city of Concordia in the western Mexican state of Sinaloa, which has been gripped by a cartel civil war since 2024.
Vizsla Silver said in a statement posted on its website that “ten individuals have been taken” and that the “incident is currently under investigation and information remains limited.”
The company statement said Mexican authorities had been notified and that its “crisis management and security response teams are actively engaged.”
Vizsla Silver said that it had suspended some of its activities at the site.
The company is developing a silver and gold mining project called Panuco in Sinaloa.
News organization Latinus reported that the company employees were taken by a group of armed men from a home rented in Concordia by Vizsla on Jan. 23.
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement it was aware of a “security incident” in Concorida and that it was “monitoring it closely.” The statement said the Canadian embassy officials in Mexico were in touch with Mexican officials.
“We are not aware of any Canadian citizens impacted by this incident,” said the statement.
Mexico’s Security and Citizen Protection Secretariat did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An ongoing civil war within the Sinaloa cartel, one of the most powerful international organized crime groups in the world, has left thousands dead and disappeared across the state.
CBC News has reached out to Vizsla Silver for additional information.
By – https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/mining-sinaloa-abduction-mexico-9.7066206