“The search operation for the missing miners in the municipality of Concordia is being significantly reinforced,” added the state president, who explained that three gunship helicopters and two airplanes are also being used for the deployment.
The kidnapping of the workers occurred on January 23 in the southern region of the state, which has been hit since September 2024 by a wave of violence due to the internal struggles of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel.
The victims work in the Pánuco complex, a community of about 350 inhabitants located in the municipality of Concordia. The authorities did not specify the nationality of those kidnapped. The local press indicates that the majority come from the neighboring state of Sonora (northwest).
The reinforcement of the search operation occurs after last Thursday the government announced the sending of 1,600 soldiers to that region, where two local deputies were also shot last week.
Before the arrival of this last contingent, some 11,000 federal elements were already deployed in the district to control the outbreak of violence.
Sinaloa is considered one of the five most violent states in Mexico, especially since the start of the cartel’s internal war, which has left more than 1,700 people murdered and almost 2,000 missing, according to authorities.
