The members of at least three families in the city of Culiacán, in the state of Sonora, Mexico, were kidnapped in the early hours of this Friday, which sparked an operation by the authorities to locate them.
Among those kidnapped, according to authorities,
there are several children
.
Rubén Rocha Moya, governor of Sinaloa, confirmed the incident to local media and asked citizens to remain calm.
"We are going to do everything possible to find them, we are already working on that, there is a special operation that takes place immediately, there is no need for reinforcements, there are enough elements here in all the corporations," said Moya.
The governor of the state of Sinaloa, in Mexico, Rubén Rocha Moya, speaks in Mexico City, on June 20, 2023.Getty Images
It was reported that several armed groups took the victims from their homes at different times early this Friday.
[At least 40 dead and more than 100 injured in “terrorist attack” on a concert hall in Moscow, according to authorities]
Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, Secretary of Public Security of Sinaloa, stated that the abductions took place in the regions of El Palmito, Los Ángeles and the community of Imala, and that the number of kidnapped people reached 15, although several local news media stated that the number could reach 50.
“[...] There is unofficial knowledge of three families removed from their homes and a total of 15 people,” Sánchez declared to the media.
[The body of a young man missing two weeks ago is found without signs of trauma]
He pointed out that “they are people of a medium [socioeconomic] level or below. I think it is easy
to have 5 or 7 [kidnapped children]
.
There has to be a response from us [the authorities and the response has to be strong," she said.
A member of the Mexican Army patrols a highway in Culiacán, Mexico, on January 6, 2023. JUAN CARLOS CRUZ / AFP via Getty Images
Members of the local police, the prosecutor's office and other armed forces participate in the operation to find the kidnapped people.
With information from
El Heraldo de México
,
SIPSE
,
ABC
and
Fuerza Informativa Azteca