Mexico arrests suspected cartel hitman over Canadian mining murders

Video released by Mexico’s Security Cabinet shows alleged cartel hitman Gabriel N., alias Gabito, after his arrest. (Gabinete de Seguridad de México vis Facebook)

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MEXICO CITY — Mexico on Tuesday announced the capture of a suspect in the kidnapping and murder in January of 10 workers from a Canadian mining company in the violence-plagued state of Sinaloa.

The security ministry said the suspect, identified as Gabriel N., alias Gabito, was a hitman for a faction of the fearsome Sinaloa drug cartel.

The workers, all Mexicans, were kidnapped at gunpoint on January 23 from a silver mining project belonging to Vancouver-based Vizsla Silver in the country’s northwest.

The bodies of the 10 men, two of whom were engineers and one a geologist, were later found buried in clandestine graves.

Abductions by armed groups are common in Mexico, where more than 120,000 people have vanished since the 1950s, many of them abducted and killed by drug cartels.

It is rare, however, for international companies to be targeted.

The government said the workers were mistaken for members of a rival faction of the Sinaloa cartel, which has been ripped apart by internecine fighting since September 2024.

The security ministry said Gabriel N worked for a faction controlled by the sons of jailed druglord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.

The ministry added that he was being investigated for kidnapping, extortion, homicide and drug-related offenses and that was found in possession of weapons, ammunition, drugs, cash and a vehicle.

The Sinaloa cartel has been designated a terrorist organization by Washington.

AFP