Mexican authorities said one of the bodies had the “characteristics of one of the people reported as missing.”

Authorities in Mexico on Friday announced that they have discovered bodies and remains believed to belong to 10 workers who went missing from a gold and silver mine in northern Sinaloa state last month.

The Sinaloa state prosecutor’s office said the remains were found in the community of El Verde, in the municipality of Concordia, where the mine is located.

The Mexican Attorney General’s Office did not share the exact number of bodies they recovered, but it said that one of the bodies had the “characteristics of one of the people reported as missing.”

The authorities have not yet officially identified the bodies they have recovered.

The office said that it is taking measures to confirm ⁠the victim’s ‍identity and collect evidence from the grave in Concordia, where remains of several other bodies were found.

The office also said they have arrested four people who they suspect have ties to the workers’ disappearances.

What do we know about the case of the missing mine workers?

On January 28, Vancouver-based mining company Vizsla Silver reported the kidnapping of 10 people.

It said it informed authorities, and its teams were taking steps to search for the missing workers.

Security Minister Omar Garcia confirmed that the area where the miners went missing is under the control of the Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by the sons of ex-Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” ‍Guzman.

However, authorities have yet to establish a reason as to why the group was kidnapped on January 23.

Reuters news agency interviewed some of the kidnapped mine workers’ family members, who said they received ⁠threats from organized crime groups in the area, including the Chapitos.

Cartels are quite active in the Sinaloa region, where turf battles have been ongoing for more than a year between two rival factions.

The Mexican government has increased the number of troops deployed to the state and launched an operation to find the workers.

Edited by: Sean Sinico

DW News