Mexican authorities have discovered a body matching one of 10 miners kidnapped in Sinaloa, found in a mass grave near Mazatlan amid ongoing cartel violence.
MEXICO CITY: Mexican authorities have discovered a body matching the description of one of 10 miners kidnapped from a northern Sinaloa state mine late last month. The remains were found in a clandestine grave in Concordia, approximately 45 km east of the Pacific coast city of Mazatlan.
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office stated steps are underway to confirm the victim’s identity and collect evidence. Police have not yet formally identified any of the bodies found at the site, which contained the remains of several other individuals.
Family members told Reuters some of the missing workers from Canada’s Vizsla Silver Corp mine had previously received threats from organised crime groups. These groups include the Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by the sons of former drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Security Minister Omar Garcia confirmed last month that the area where the miners disappeared is under Chapitos control. The silver mine has remained closed since the kidnapping on January 23.
Authorities have not established a motive for the abduction. Jaime Lopez, the uncle of missing 26-year-old engineer Pablo Osorio, said his family could not afford a ransom.
“We are devastated,” Lopez said. He added he did not want his nephew to work in dangerous Concordia, but it was the only place that responded to his job applications after he graduated three years ago.
“We are going to do everything in our power to find him,” Lopez stated. He said he was awaiting official news to determine if his nephew was among the remains.
Mexico’s government deployed over 1,000 troops, including soldiers and elite marines, to the area this weekend to search for the missing miners. Authorities arrested four suspects in connection with the case on Thursday.