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Drug gangs have dumped 49 mutilated bodies on a Mexican highway.

The discovery of the corpses, in the early hours of Sunday morning, is the latest in a series of shocking incidents where gangs have left large numbers of dead bodies grotesquely displayed in public to warn off rivals.

According to reports from Associated Press, authorities had to close a non-toll highway in the town of San Juan to the border city of Reynosa, causing tailbacks.

The discovery was made at 4am Mexican time (9am GMT)

Earlier this month, the bodies of 23 people were found hanging from a bridge or decapitated and dumped near to the border city of Nuevo Laredo, where drug cartels are fighting a bloody and escalating turf war.

Authorities found nine of the victims, including four women, hanging from an overpass leading to a main highway, according to an anonymous Tamaulipas state official.

Hours later, police found 14 human heads inside coolers outside the city hall along with a threatening note.

The 14 bodies were found in black plastic bags inside a minivan abandoned near an international bridge, the official said.

The official provided no details of the note or motive for the killings.

But the city across the border from Laredo, Texas has recently been torn by a renewed turf war between the Zetas cartel, a gang of former Mexican special-forces soldiers, and the powerful Sinaloa cartel, which has joined forces with the Gulf cartel, former allies of the Zetas.

Local media published photos of the nine bloodied bodies, some with duct tape wrapped around their faces, hanging from the overpass along with a message threatening the Gulf cartel.

(Image: Getty)

A banner attached to the bridge read: "This is how I will finish all the fools you send.”

And in September, masked gunmen dumped the bodies of 35 suspected drug war victims on a busy road – in full view of terrified drivers.

Authorities said the dead, thrown from a truck in Boca del Rio, Mexico were drug cartel members and blamed a rival mob for the slayings.

State prosecutor Reynaldo Escobar said: “We’ve never seen a situation like this before with people involved in organised crime.”