ACAPULCO, Mexico - The bound and bullet-riddled bodies of five young men were found Wednesday on a Mexican road in the violence-plagued southern state of Guerrero, authorities said.

The men, aged between 18 and 25, were left on the side of the road linking the state capital, Chilpancingo, and the city of Iguala, said a senior state police official.

Their hands were tied with wires and they appeared to have been tortured, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because was not authorized to speak publicly.

High-caliber bullet casings were next to the victims, along with a sign allegedly written by one of the drug gangs that operate in the region.

They were found after a call to an emergency number.

Guerrero has been plagued by violence blamed on drug cartel turf wars. Iguala is the city where 43 students vanished in 2014 after they were abducted by local police in league with the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel.