A Vancouver-based mining company says 10 of its employees have been kidnapped from one of its project sites in the city of Concordia andin the western Mexican state of Sinaloa, which has been gripped by a cartel civil war since 2024.

Vizsla Silver said in a statement posted on her website that “ten individuals were taken” and that “the incident is currently under investigation and information remains limited.”

The company said in a statement that Mexican authorities have been notified and that its “crisis management and security response teams are actively engaged.”

Vizsla Silver said she has suspended some of her activities at the site.

The company is developing a silver and gold mining project called Panuco in Sinaloa.

Local media reports indicate that most of the abducted employees are Mexican nationals.

The Sinaloan Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that it has opened an investigation into the kidnapping of the people in Concordia.

The press release states that the state attorney’s office received a report of the disappearance of 10 people on January 24 in a 911 call from a company representative.

The statement said state authorities were working with federal authorities, including the military, to launch search operations. State authorities also executed a search warrant on Tuesday as part of the investigation, according to the statement.

News organization Latinus reported that company employees they were taken by a group of armed men from the house rented by Vizsla in Concordia on January 23.

Global Affairs Canada could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mexico’s Secretariat for Security and Civil Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ongoing civil war within the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful international organized crime groups in the world, has left thousands dead and missing across the country.

CBC News has reached out to Vizsla Silver for additional information.