Mexican authorities announced on Friday that federal forces had discovered a body believed to be one of the 10 employees of a Canadian mining company who were abducted three weeks ago in Sinaloa, Mexico. The attorney general’s office released a statement confirming the finding of “bodies and human remains” during the search for the kidnapped workers of Vizsla Silver Corp. One of the bodies showed similarities to a missing individual, and efforts are ongoing to confirm the identity. The statement did not disclose the total number of bodies found.
To date, four individuals have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of the employees from Vancouver-based Vizsla Silver on January 23 in Concordia, located approximately 50 kilometers east of Mazatlán, a popular tourist city. Vizsla Silver stated that it is cooperating with Mexican authorities and supporting the affected families but refrained from providing further comments.
The mining company had previously encountered security issues related to its Panuco silver and gold exploration project in Sinaloa, prompting a halt to field operations in April 2025 due to security concerns in the region. The United Nations Committee on Forced Disappearances is closely monitoring the situation in Sinaloa following the disappearance of a 26-year-old engineer, Pablo Osorio Sanchez, who was abducted on the same day and in the same city as the Vizsla employees.
The UN committee has raised concerns about alleged collusion between state agents and criminal elements in relation to the disappearances in Sinaloa. The ongoing violence in the region, stemming from a civil war within the powerful Sinaloa cartel, has led to a significant number of missing persons reports. The conflict, sparked in September 2024 after a betrayal within the cartel leadership, involves factions loyal to different cartel figures, resulting in a state engulfed in violence.
Federal authorities suspect that the kidnapping of Vizsla’s employees may be linked to a group associated with Los Chapitos, the faction supporting El Chapo’s sons in the cartel conflict. The situation remains tense as investigations continue into the abduction and the broader security challenges in the region.
