A commando armed to the teeth with high-caliber weapons stormed the premises of a Canadian-owned mine in the northern Jalisco town of San Martin Bolanos Tuesday, making off with 57 silver ingots.
Each of the ingots weighed 25 kilograms.
With silver quoted at around US$572 a kilogram this week, each stolen bar had an estimated value of $US14,300. This means the value of the entire haul was around $US815,500.
According to unofficial sources quoted in Guadalajara daily Milenio, security at the El Pilon mine was “relaxed” just moments before the commando – made up of between seven and ten armed men – easily stormed the mine. The newspaper reported that state investigators are questioning the entire security team at the mine, as well as conducting lie detector tests.
El Pilon is owned by the First Majestic Silver Corp., a Canadian mining company based in Vancouver that has five producing mines under its control in Mexico.