Five killed in Mexico drug violence

DURANGO: Officials in the northern Mexican state of Durango said they found the tortured remains of four men and a woman, the latest killings in a drug-related crime wave gripping the country.

"At a glance one could see several lesions on the surface of the bodies," the state of Durango prosecutor's office said in a brief statement Friday.

The office refused to comment on local media reports that police found the mutilated bodies in 12 black bags.

Durango state is located near the Pacific coast, where the powerful Sinaloa cartel is active. However, the paramilitary Zetas cartel from the Gulf of Mexico has been fighting the Sinaloa in turf battles there in recent years.

More than 50,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since outgoing President Felipe Calderon deployed the Mexican military in late 2006 to crack down on the country's powerful cartels. (AFP)