Families of Canadian mining firm workers kidnapped in Mexico plan to file RCMP complaint

Vizsla Silver holds evidence that could shed light on kidnapping motive, lawyer says

The families of the workers of a Canadian mining firm kidnapped earlier this year by a suspected cartel commando squad in the violence-torn Mexican state of Sinaloa plan to file an RCMP complaint against the Vancouver-based company, their lawyer says.

Canada's federal police force needs to probe whether Vizsla Silver Corp.'s on-site management had allegedly established some level of co-ordination with an organized armed group in a region, said Odracir Ricardo Espinoza, who represents the families of seven kidnapped workers.

Vizsla Silver's exploration area is dominated by warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel, which is a designated terror organization in Canada. Mexican authorities have said the workers were kidnapped by one of the cartel's factions.

"Imagine a puzzle, and you're getting piece, after piece, after piece," said Espinoza. "But we don't have the most complicated, darkest pieces. The company has those pieces."

Early in the morning of Jan. 23, armed men stormed a gated compound in Concordia, Sinaloa, where Vizsla Silver housed its workers and parked some of its vehicles, kidnapping 10 of the company's workers.

Two weeks later, Mexican authorities located the bodies of nine of the workers in clandestine graves dug into an open field in El Verde, a village about 19 kilometres northwest of Concordia. The whereabouts of the 10th worker, Francisco Antonio Esparza Yáñez, who was responsible for community relations, remain unknown.

The motive behind the kidnapping remains unclear.

Calls for probe of alleged dealings

According to family testimony, all Vizsla Silver workers were instructed to wear a specific colour of vest so they would be identified as part of the company by the organized crime group that controlled the area, said Espinoza.

"Someone had to tell them, 'Put that on so we don't do anything to you,'" said Espinoza. "And that wasn't an intermediary. That had to be one of their [organized crime group] members. So those conversations, those acts should have been denounced."

Two former Vizsla Silver workers also previously told CBC News that on-site company management told them to switch from orange to yellow vests and helmets, so the armed men who patrolled the territory would know they were with the company.

"One of the fronts we plan to open is a complaint with the Mounted Police in Canada," said Espinoza, adding they also plan to take the issue to U.S. authorities.

Vizsla Silver Corp. trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges.

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The families say the Attorney General's Office of Mexico has not yet compelled Vizsla Silver to turn over evidence they believe the company holds related to the Jan. 23 kidnapping, and if that does not happen, they plan to seek a judicial order in Mexican court.

They want Mexican authorities to request that top company officials, including the CEO, provide testimony, Espinoza said.

In an emailed statement, Vizsla Silver said it was limited in its ability to comment because the matter was under an "active investigation," but the company "continues to co-operate fully" with Mexican authorities and has provided all requested information.

"We fully understand and share the families' desire for answers, and we appreciate how extraordinarily difficult the continued uncertainty is, particularly for the family of our colleague who remains missing," said the statement.

In a podcast earlier this month, Vizsla Silver CEO Michael Konnert said the company had "endeavoured to support the families substantially," and it had plans for a foundation "to support the families of our lost colleagues and coworkers."

Konnert said a military installation would soon be placed on the project site, with "other kinds of supporting infrastructure for the security apparatus."

The federal Attorney General's Office did not return a request for comment.

Vizsla Silver's exploration operations are spread across territory that has reportedly seen some of the fiercest fighting between factions of the Sinaloa cartel in a two-year-long civil war within what was once one of the world's biggest drug smuggling organizations.

The war has led to thousands of deaths and disappearances across the state and the displacement of hundreds of families from the Concordia area, according to a July report from the International Crisis Group, a global non-profit NGO.

The Canadian mining firm — which never filed a formal complaint following the kidnapping — is conducting exploration work across 35,000 hectares rich with silver in a remote, mountainous region as part of its flagship Panuco Project, which sits roughly 25 kilometres east of Concordia's urban centre.

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Company should turn over evidence

The families believe Vizsla Silver holds vital information it has yet to turn over to Mexican authorities that could shed light on the motive behind the Jan. 23 kidnapping and subsequent killings, Espinoza said.

Specifically, he said, the company needs to hand over security camera footage from its complex, GPS information from its vehicles, corporate cellphones and records, and internal company communication related to the kidnapping.

The families are also seeking testimony from one of the company's legal representatives who alerted authorities about the kidnapping, Espinoza said.

"The company has not participated in the investigation, it hasn't presented information that it should have presented," he said.

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At one point, in the window between the kidnapping and discovery of bodies, that representative told families that a hospital in Mazatlan was preparing to receive the kidnapped worker.

"We need to know her testimony," said Espinoza. "Where did this [information] about the hospital come from? Was it just to calm the families? Or did she have some other type of information?"

The families are also seeking information around Vizsla Silver's security protocols and its decision to keep working in a volatile area. The company had paused work in April 2025 over security concerns.

Some family members have recordings that capture the sounds of gunbattles, sent to them by their loved ones while working for Vizsla Silver, Espinoza said.

"They kept working because they had to provide for their children," he said.

Alan Esparza, the son of the missing worker Antonio Esparza Yáñez, said the company has done little to help in the search for his father.

"It's like the earth swallowed him. It's incredible, really, that I know absolutely nothing," he said in an interview with CBC News.

Esparza said he last saw his father on Jan. 3, after the family spent New Year's together. His father was planning to soon retire, he said.

"What has Vizsla done for its employees to prevent what happened, to fix what happened? And now, what is it doing to help find the 10th?" said Esparza.

In June, a local La Chapiza-aligned cartel boss named Gabriel Nicolás Martínez Larios, also known as El Gabito or El 80, was arrested in connection with the Vizsla Silver kidnapping.

And earlier this month, Mexican authorities further announced the arrests of Angel Gabriel and Milton Yair, along with 11 others, who were part of the La Chapiza cell linked to the case.

Jorge Barrera is a Caracas-born journalist currently based in Mexico City for CBC News. He previously worked with CBC's Investigative Unit and CBC's Indigenous Unit. Follow him on X @JorgeBarrera or email him jorge.barrera@cbc.ca.

With files from Tania Miranda Perez