CONCORDIA, Mexico — Nestled within the coastal mountains overlooking the shimmering Pacific Ocean near Mazatlan, a series of towns lie eerily quiet along a winding road, interrupted only by the occasional rumble of a passing truck.

It was near one of these towns, Panuco, that a chilling incident unfolded in late January: 10 workers from a Canadian-owned silver and gold mine were kidnapped. The remains of five have been discovered nearby, while identification is still pending for the remaining victims.

Many residents of these towns have fled, driven by fear as two rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have been engaged in a fierce conflict since September 2024, according to Fermín Labrador, a 68-year-old from the village of Chirimoyos. He mentioned that some were “asked” to leave.

The unsettling abduction of the mine workers, shrouded in mystery, has sparked local anxiety and broader concerns regarding the security claims made by President Claudia Sheinbaum. Her administration has taken a tougher stance on drug cartels in Sinaloa, marked by arrests and drug busts following her inauguration in late 2024. A year ago, she deployed 10,000 National Guard troops to the northern border to avert US tariffs linked to the cartels’ fentanyl trade, much of it originating from Sinaloa.

In January, Sheinbaum highlighted a significant drop in homicide rates from the previous year as proof that her security measures were effective.

“Events like these undermine the federal government’s narrative that they are gradually gaining control,” remarked security expert David Saucedo. He noted that Sheinbaum had attempted to “manage the conflict” as the Sinaloa Cartel’s internal strife expanded, forcing communities to align with one of the warring factions.

Fleeting security

The mine workers’ disappearance in late January brought more troops into the mountains as they searched by air and on the ground for signs of them.

Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch came to coordinate the operation. Several arrests were made and from information gleaned from suspects, authorities found the clandestine graves.

But the increased security presence has not brought peace of mind to residents.

Roque Vargas, a human rights activist for people displaced by violence in the area, said that “all of the hubbub has scattered the organized crime guys” but he worries they could return. He and others are also concerned about being mistaken for bad guys and attacked by security forces when they leave their town, because it has happened elsewhere in the state.

“We’ve practically been abandoned,” he said.

Cartel infighting triggered violence

Sheinbaum took office in October 2024, when Sinaloa was entering a new spiral of violence following the abduction of Sinaloa Cartel leaderIsmael “El Mayo” Zambada by a son of former cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Zambada was handed over to US authorities and his faction of the cartel went to war with the faction led by Guzmán’s sons.

Initially, residents of the state capital, Culiacan, were caught in the crossfire, but the conflict eventually extended statewide. President Trump took office last year and designated the Sinaloa Cartel, among others, a foreign terrorist organization, upping the pressure on Sheinbaum’s administration to get tough with the cartels.

By last April, Vizsla Silver Corp., the Vancouver, Canada-based mine owner, announced it was halting activities at the mine because of security concerns in the area. The pause lasted a month.

García Harfuch said this month that the suspects arrested were part of the Sinaloa Cartel faction loyal to Guzmán’s sons, known as “los Chapitos,” and had mistaken the workers for belonging to the other faction. There has not been an explanation for how the confusion could have occurred since Vizsla said the workers were taken from their site.

Mines and crime

Mines, along with other businesses like avocado groves and pipelines carrying gasoline, have long attracted organized crime’s attention in Mexico as a source of extortion payments or to steal the extracted material.

Saucedo, who has researched cases in Guanajuato, Sinaloa and Sonora, said he has also seen cases where mines take advantage of armed groups to control mine opponents.

The Mexican government has said it has no reports that Vizsla was extorted. Sheinbaum said that her administration would talk with all mining companies in Mexico “to offer the support they require.”

Vizsla did not respond to questions emailed by The Associated Press, but has said in statements that its focus is on finding the remaining workers and supporting the affected families. Relatives of one of the workers declined to comment.

Search for the missing

In the community of El Verde, in the foothills that rise between the ocean and the mountains, Marisela Carrizales stood beside banners bearing the photographs of missing people. The road leading to a site where clandestine graves were discovered was blocked by a police car. The surrounding town was silent.

“I’m here waiting for answers,” said Carrizales, who belongs to one of the many search collectives that have spread all over Mexico to look for the missing. She has been looking for her son, Alejandro, for 5 ½ years and had come to El Verde with more than 20 others also looking for missing relatives to monitor authorities’ work and demand that they help them look in other places, too. “We have information that there are a lot more graves here … we have to come to look for them.”

It was here in the first week of February that authorities found a clandestine grave and then more in the days that followed. The Attorney General’s office said 10 bodies were found in one location, five of which have been identified as the missing mine workers. But the Sinaloa state prosecutor’s office also said additional remains were found in four other grave sites around the community.

There are many missing. In Mazatlan, a Mexican tourist was taken from a bar in October. In January, a businessman disappeared. In February, six other Mexican tourists were abducted from a ritzy part of the resort city. A woman and a girl who were part of that group were later found alive outside the city, but the men who were with them have not appeared.

While the government has strengthened security in Mazatlan ahead of carnival celebrations, back in the mountains, teachers, doctors or even buses are not coming to many of the communities out of fear, Vargas said.

Labrador, the man from Chirimoyos, said that when he is lucky, he borrows a friend’s motorcycle to go to his job in a highway toll booth. When he can’t borrow it, he has to walk more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) through the mountains, because the person in charge of local public transportation disappeared in December.