Nine Mexican states have been placed on high alert after a company's pickup truck carrying industrial X-ray equipment that uses radioactive material was reported stolen in a northwestern town.

The Interior Department said in a statement the truck was stolen Sunday in Tlaquepaque, a town in Jalisco state.

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"This was industrial equipment that included Iridium-192... which can be dangerous for people if it is taken out of its container," the statement said.

This is at least the seventh case of radioactive material being stolen across Mexico since 2013, according to AFP. In all instances the materials were recovered safely.

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The alert and search for the stolen material covers the states of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Michoacan San Luis Potosi, Durango and Zacatecas, according to a post on the director of national emergency services, Luis Felipe Puente, Twitter account.

He encouraged people with information about the stolen material to report it but "don't open it."

AP and Reuters contributed to this report.