The remains of 18 people, including some who were beheaded and all of whom were mutilated, have now been found by a highway near the western Mexican city of Guadalajara, officials said.

Heads and other body parts were found Wednesday inside two SUVs abandoned at kilometer 25 of the Guadalajara-Chapala highway in the city of Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos, Jalisco state Attorney General Tomas Coronado Olmos said.