Authorities have found seven bodies inside an abandoned car in Mexico's northeastern state of Tamaulipas, a region plagued by a resurgence of drug cartel violence, officials said Monday.
The four men and three women were found Sunday night in the port city of Tampico on the Gulf of Mexico coast, the Tamaulipas security task force said in a statement.
The deaths are the result of "internal fights between suspected criminal groups," the statement said. Authorities did not say how the victims were killed.
The federal government announced last week that it was stepping up patrols in the state. Around 100 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Tamaulipas since early April.
Officials say the bloodshed is linked to internal feuds within the Gulf cartel following the arrests of key leaders, as well as the group's continuing turf wars with the rival Zetas gang.