By Dailymail

These shocking photos show how the bodies of seven men were found on plastic chairs in Mexico having been shot in the head, with threat messages nailed to some of their chests using ice picks.

A placard on one of the bodies, which were found early yesterday morning in Uruapan, Michoacan state, said: ‘Warning! This will happen to thieves, kidnappers, sex offenders and extortionists.’

Seven bodies had bullet wounds and had been placed individually in the sitting position in chairs near a roundabout, local authorities said. The local attorney general's office did not provide a motive.

Some of the bodies had their hands and feet bound, outside a Pepsi bottling plant. The men were believed to have been aged from 15 to 40. The bodies were found at 05:30 local time (11:30 GMT).

Meanwhile another seven people were killed in neighbouring Guerrero, where armed men opened fire in a bar in Ciudad Altamirano late on Friday. Four civilians and three off-duty federal agents died.

In Guerrero state, authorities said armed men opened fire in a bar in Ciudad Altamirano late on Friday, and four civilians and three off-duty federal agents were killed.

The officers were pursued by gunmen while walking to a local bank, and were killed after seeking refuge in a nearby hotel, an official with the federal police said.

Both states on Mexico's western coast have seen a rise of violence in recent years attributed to drug cartels. Around 70,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico in seven years.

President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in December, has vowed to quell the lawlessness and killing that have stained Mexico's image as a tourist destination and rattled investors.