MEXICO CITY (AP) — Police in southern Guerrero state found 16 bodies left in a truck in a region plagued by drug violence.

The bodies were found in Coyuca de Catalan, the state Attorney General's Office said in a statement Monday. That city is close to the border with Michoacan state.

The remote mountain region known as "Tierra Caliente" for its steamy climate is a battleground between drug gangs including La Familia Michoacana and the breakaway Knights Templar.

Officials did not identify the victims or describe a motive for the slayings, but Guerrero Gov. Angel Aguirre said authorities suspected they were killed in Michoacan and dumped in his state.

State Attorney General Martha Garzon told an anonymous call alerted police to the bodies and urged people in neighboring Michoacan with missing relatives to get in touch with the morgue in the city of Iguala.

Garzon said investigators suspected the victims were brought in from Michoacan because there weren't any recent reports in Guerrero of 16 people being missing.