Canadian mining company Vizsla Silver said on Monday that nine of 10 workers who were abducted in Concordia, Sinaloa, in January had been found dead.
“The Company confirms that nine colleagues have now been found deceased,” Vizsla Silver said in a statement.
The Vancouver-based company said it “remains in close contact with the family of one colleague who remains missing and continues to support the authorities in their ongoing investigation.”
The announcement came after the remains of Saúl Alberto Ochoa Pérez and Miguel Tapia Rayón were identified this month. The bodies of seven other Vizsla Silver workers were previously identified. The worker who remains missing is Antonio Esparza.
The remains of the workers who have been identified were found at a clandestine grave site in El Verde, a small community in Concordia, a municipality that borders the state of Durango. The deceased workers were originally from various Mexican states, including Sinaloa, Sonora, Guerrero, Chihuahua and Zacatecas. Most were aged in their 30s or 40s.
On Monday, the president and CEO of Vizsla Silver, Michael Konnert, said that the confirmation of the deaths of Ochoa and Tapia was “a devastating outcome.”
“… Our heartfelt condolences are with all the families impacted. We stand beside them with continued support as we mourn our colleagues and friends,” he said.
Canadian mining company confirms mass kidnapping of employees in Concordia, Sinaloa
Konnert added that “we will always carry this loss with us” and “will honor our colleagues through the work we do every day and our ongoing commitment to their families, our community in Sinaloa, and the values that define us.”
The ten Vizsla Silver workers — including engineers, geologists and security personnel — were abducted from a company housing development in the early hours of Jan. 23. The housing estate is located near the company’s flagship Panuco silver-gold venture.
On Feb. 10, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said that four people arrested in connection with the abduction told authorities that the victims were mistaken for members of a rival cartel faction. He said that the four people arrested were “from the cell of Los Chapitos,” and noted that that faction of the Sinaloa Cartel is engaged in a “fight” with the Los Mayos faction of the same criminal group.
President Claudia Sheinbaum subsequently said that investigators did not necessarily accept the notion that the abduction was a case of mistaken identity.
According to the newspaper Reforma, former and current Vizsla Silver workers have claimed that the abduction was related to the company’s refusal to pay protection money.
