The decapitated bodies of five men have been found on a road in central Mexico, in an area controlled by the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Police were called to a road near the town of Ojuelos, in Jalisco state, on Sunday morning, after plastic bags containing the remains were spotted by drivers.

Forensic experts have been trying to identify the victims, officials said.

The brutality of the murders and the disposal of the bodies in a public place are clear indications of drug cartel involvement.

National guard troops also attended the scene and found the remains wrapped in black plastic bags, the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

None of the victims’ ages could be determined yet and an investigation has been launched, it added.

In Jalisco this year, official figures show that 1,415 people were murdered between January and September.

More than 30,000 people are killed every year in Mexico, which has one of the world’s highest murder rates.

Last week, the mayor of a Mexican city plagued by drug violence was murdered less than a week after taking office.

Alejandro Arcos was killed in Chilpancingo, a city of around 280,000 people in the southwestern state of Guerrero.

President Claudia Sheinbaum, who was sworn in last week, has ruled out a return to the war on drugs of previous administrations.

She said her security plan would focus on gathering intelligence on cartels and addressing the social causes of violence – a strategy referred to as “hugs not bullets” by her predecessor in office, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

But the opposition is calling for tougher action against the gangs.

Since the government first began to use the Mexican military against the cartels in 2006, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and tens of thousands more gone missing.