Portugal Colonial - Five employees of Canadian mining company confirmed dead in Mexico

The attorney general's office said it had identified five bodies found at a property in the municipality of Concordia and was working to identify "five more bodies."

The workers, all Mexicans, according to local media, were kidnapped on January 23 from a silver mining project belonging to the Vancouver-based company Vizsla Silver.

Vizsla Silver earlier issued a statement saying that it "has been informed by a number of families that their relatives... have been found deceased."

It added that it was awaiting confirmation from Mexican authorities.

Vizsla President Michael Konnert said the company was "devastated by this outcome and the tragic loss of life."

"Our focus remains on the safe recovery of those who remain missing," he added.

- Cartel violence -

Abductions by armed groups are all too 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.

According to the workers' families, gunmen forcibly removed the men from a camp situated at the headquarters of Viszla's project in the small town of Panuco in Concordia district.

Two of the men were engineers and one a geologist, according to local media.

Concordia sits on silver, gold, lead and zinc deposits, making it a target for organized crime gangs, who cash in by carrying out kidnappings and extorting workers.

Last week, Mexican authorities stepped up their search for the men, deploying more than 1,000 officers, three helicopters and two planes.

Four people have been arrested in connection with the case.

Sinaloa state is reeling from a surge in violence caused by a power struggle within the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

The factional fighting has left more than 1,700 people dead and nearly 2,000 missing in just over a year.

burs-cb/sla/nro

L.Mesquita--PC