The victims, aged between 13 and 53, were part of a group of 17 people reported missing days ago in the town of Chilapa. They were reported to be traveling merchants. Their bodies were found on Wednesday night in a pickup truck on an avenue in Guerrero’s capital Chilpancingo, whose mayor was beheaded last month less than a week after taking office.

General Pedro Nieto, head of the armed forces in the region, said they were believed to have been kidnapped by the Los Ardillos drug cartel. The military had been deployed to search for them.

The bodies had been dismembered, complicating efforts to identify them. On October 22, ten of the victims disappeared, with the remaining seven going missing four days later when they went looking for their loved ones. Guerrero has endured years of bloodshed linked to turf wars between drug cartels, with residents often getting caught in the middle.

Criminal gangs in Mexico often use so-called “hawks” who identify and pursue strangers in the territory they control. Last week, three other dismembered bodies were found in a vehicle in Chilpancingo.

Last year, 1,890 murders were recorded in Guerrero, which is home to drug production and trafficking routes, including through Pacific seaports. On October 24, armed clashes between alleged criminals and security forces left 19 people dead, including two police officers, in the southern state. And this Monday, gunmen killed five members of the same family in a suburb of Acapulco.