At least 15 people from three entire families kidnapped in Sinaloa by armed groups

Terror in Mexico has hit the country again this Friday with the kidnapping of at least 15 people from three families, according to official figures.

But the number could range between 39 and even 50, according to local media reports and other authorities from the State Prosecutor's Office.

Among those kidnapped there are minors.

The first reports from the Ministry of Public Security pointed to armed groups in the area of ​​La Noria, about 30 kilometers from Culiacán, capital of Sinaloa.

The calls for help continued until Friday afternoon.

“It is not possible to specify a number of people deprived of liberty, since complaints are still being received and the families of the victims are being attended to,” the Prosecutor's Office said on the X network.

The Secretary of Public Security of Sinaloa, Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, said that they received alert calls between dawn and this Friday morning: “There were four calls, one at four in the morning, three at 9:26.

There is unofficial knowledge until now, security personnel are already working in the area to corroborate the data of three families who were picked up, taken from their homes, and in total there are 15 people, this is the preliminary information we have," he declared.

The secretary then also confirmed that the minors could be between five and seven.

It is not possible to specify a number of people deprived of liberty since complaints are still being received and the families of the victims are being attended to.

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— Sinaloa Prosecutor's Office (@FiscaliaSinaloa) March 22, 2024

The lack of clarity has increased fear among the inhabitants of the State, hit by violent events of national significance.

Deputy Prosecutor Dámaso Castro Saavedra has confirmed that the number of calls for help had increased to six, according to the

newspaper .

Castro Saavedra also confirmed that the kidnappings are occurring in various parts of Culiacán and in towns near the urban center of the capital, such as La Noria, El Palmito, Villa Bonita or Lomas de Magisterio.

The governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha Moya, minimized the situation and spoke of 15 kidnapped people: “We have not verified it, the police are investigating, there is relative certainty that this did happen.

But we need to corroborate.

[To citizens] I tell them not to be afraid, these are things that unfortunately happen, the authority is in no way overwhelmed, there is no need for reinforcements,” he responded to local journalists.

A few hours later, Rocha Moya himself announced the arrival from Mexico City of two special forces battalions with more than 600 men, as well as 300 members of the regional task forces and a battalion of the National Guard "to contribute to the search for people who were reported missing.”

This Thursday, after a confrontation between alleged rival drug trafficking groups, the bodies of three murdered men were found, all three completely burned and two of them decapitated in San Miguel del Llano Badiraguato.

The National Guard, the Mexican Army and the State Prosecutor's Office went to the scene to respond to the emergency.

The authorities deny that this has anything to do with the events of this Friday.

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