Army detains ‘El Talibán’ and 4 others in Vizsla Silver kidnapping case

Members of Mexico’s Ministry of National Defense (Defensa) arrested five alleged members of the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, seizing weapons, a vehicle and tactical equipment, in two separate operations on Friday and Saturday.

Those arrested are suspected of involvement both in the kidnapping of 10 employees of the Canadian mining company Vizsla Silver in Concordia, Sinaloa, in January and in the abduction of four tourists from México state in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, in February. 

Among those arrested was Jesús Abraham “N,” also known as “El Talibán,” who is believed to be a trusted associate of Juan Benito “N”, alias “Beny 17,” Los Chapitos’s regional leader in southern Sinaloa. 

Four additional men were arrested, including a Colombian citizen, in a separate operation in the municipality of El Rosario, located approximately 70 kilometers south of Concordia and Mazatlán.

According to Defensa, all four are security personnel of Óscar Luciano Martínez Larios, known by the names of “El Casco” (the helmet) and “El 81,” who allegedly leads a cell of Los Chapitos in Sinaloa. Martínez Larios is also reportedly part of the “Los Hermanos Martínez” (The Martínez Brothers) criminal group, whose membership also includes Gabriel Nicolás Martínez Larios, arrested in June of this year, and Eduardo Jonathan Martínez, who was killed on Oct. 9 during an armed riot at the “El Castillo” prison in Mazatlán. 

Los Chapitos are accused of orchestrating the kidnapping of the 10 Vizsla Silver workers on Jan. 23 after allegedly mistaking them for members of the rival group “Los Mayos.” Nine of the ten workers have since been found dead, while the tenth remains missing. 

En Sinaloa, como resultado de trabajos de inteligencia militar, elementos de @Defensamx1 y @GN_MEXICO_, en coordinación con @sspsinaloa1, detuvieron en dos acciones realizadas en El Rosario y Mazatlán a Jesús Abraham “N”, alias “Talibán”, y a cuatro integrantes de una célula delictiva, además de asegurar armamento y equipo táctico.

Los detenidos están vinculados con el secuestro y homicidio de 10 trabajadores de una empresa minera en La Concordia, así como con el secuestro de cuatro turistas originarios del Estado de México, ocurrido en Mazatlán.

El Gabinete de Seguridad mantiene acciones coordinadas de inteligencia e investigación para detener a generadores de violencia, desarticular estructuras criminales y combatir la impunidad.

— Gabinete de Seguridad de México (@GabSeguridadMX) October 19, 2026

The criminal group has also been linked to the kidnapping of four tourists on Feb. 3 when six members of the same family from Santa Ana Ixtlahuaca in México state were intercepted by armed men on Sábalo-Cerritos Avenue in Mazatlán after renting off-road vehicles to explore the area.

A 28-year-old woman and a nine-year-old girl were rescued alive the following day in the town of El Habal, while the remaining four brothers remain missing, despite significant media attention to the case and multiple search operations. 

The five arrests made this weekend bring the total number of arrests in the Vizsla Silver case to 19. The Sinaloa Attorney General’s Office is conducting further investigations to determine the next steps of the case.