Five men and a woman have been found in Mexico with their hands amputated and "I'm a thief" written on their foreheads.

Police said they had been mutilated by a criminal gang linked to drug trafficking and left on a road in Tlaquepaque, near Mexico's second city of Guadalajara.

Another man, dumped with them, was dead.

"Their stumps were wrapped in plastic," said local police commander Roberto Larios. "They're in a delicate state of health."

Their hands were deposited in two bags. Two of them are said to have criminal records.


Witnesses said the victims had been driven to the location in two vehicles.

A note said: "This happened to us for being thieves."

It was signed "anti-thief elite group", and made threats to other alleged thieves and people who abuse women or children.

It appeared that the deceased man, 39, had been beaten to death - but his hands had not been cut off.

He was married to the woman in the group, who is age 44. The other five men found with her are from 25 to 43.

Mexico drug gangs often kill their victims and leave their dismembered bodies by the roadside.

In recent years, the western state of Jalisco - where the group was dumped - has witnessed appalling acts of violence linked to the New Generation drug cartel.