Mexican Government Deploys Over 1,500 Soldiers To Sinaloa After Lawmakers Were Shot

A series of extreme violence incidents in northwestern Mexico has raised alarms within the federal government. In recent days, press reports detailed the kidnapping of at least a dozen people working on a mining project, followed days later by an armed attack against local lawmakers in Culiacán, the state capital.

Those incidents prompted a forceful response from the federal government, which announced that the Secretariat of National Defense deployed 1,600 soldiers to Sinaloa to confront the surge in crime plaguing the state.

Among the troops deployed to Sinaloa are 90 members of the Special Forces Corps, known in Mexico as "Murciélagos." In announcing the deployment, the Mexican army said the troops were transported by air from various parts of the country to Mazatlán and Culiacán.

As reported by Infobae México, the soldiers were assigned the specific mission of coordinating with authorities at all three levels of government to strengthen efforts to deter criminal activity by organized crime groups operating in Sinaloa.

The deployment comes just days after two local lawmakers from the Movimiento Ciudadano party were injured Jan. 28 in an armed attack in Culiacán. The shooting left three people wounded.

According to reports, Elizabeth Montoya and Sergio Torres were traveling in a vehicle accompanied by two bodyguards when they were attacked by a group of armed civilians. Jorge Álvarez Máynez, the party's national leader, said both officials were hospitalized in serious condition. He said Torres underwent surgery successfully and remains in delicate condition, while Montoya lost an eye.

"She also has some brain injuries and is receiving treatment, but she requires extremely careful care," Máynez said, as reported by El País.

Days before the attack, authorities in Sinaloa reported the kidnapping of 10 engineers from Canadian mining company Vizsla Silver on Jan. 23. Mexican media reports said the group was abducted by an armed command allegedly tied to an organized crime cell.

The wife of one of the victims said in media interviews that the last time she spoke with her husband was Jan. 22, and by the following morning he stopped answering calls. "The version we were given is that they were in their rest area. It was 7:30 in the morning when they were getting ready to go to work," she said.

She explained that the workers operate on 20-day shifts followed by 10 days off, during which they are able to communicate with their families. "My husband was supposed to return this week, and now I have to explain to our daughters that their father isn't coming back," she said.

She said the families have received no useful information for six days, either from the company or from authorities. "Neither the company nor the authorities are telling us anything. We don't know what's happening. All the families are very worried."

As noted by Infobae México, the families have not received extortion calls or ransom demands yet. They also do not know exactly what clothing the missing workers were wearing at the time of the abduction. The families are calling for an intensified search that includes more agencies such as the army and the navy. "We want support, for more people to be involved in the search. It's not one or two people. It's 10 workers who were there to work, to provide food for their families," she said.

The same source said that in April of last year, one of the engineers had an encounter with armed men who intercepted him and warned him not to travel through certain areas. That incident was not reported, and there are no further indications explaining why the miners may have been taken. Their whereabouts remain unknown.

Originally published on Latin Times