Mexico City, Aug 21 (IANS/EFE): The bodies of nine people with gunshot wounds were found Saturday on a highway in the western Mexican state of Nayarit, officials said.

The corpses were found on the Tepic-Aguamilpa highway near the small town of Mora, the state Public Safety Secretariat said.

The Nayarit press, which published photos of the corpses, said the victims were found with their hands tied and eyes bandaged and with multiple gunshot wounds.

That Pacific coast state was the scene of a massive gun battle in May between members of the Sinaloa and Los Zetas drug gangs that left 29 dead.

Elsewhere, five bodies, three of them decapitated and another two dismembered, were found in the Mexican Pacific resort city of Acapulco, which has been wracked by a wave of drug-related violence in recent months.

The bodies of four men and a woman were discovered by Guerrero state authorities in two points of the city, one of the most popular destinations for domestic tourists.

The decapitated bodies of two men and a woman were found Friday night inside an abandoned SUV on one of Acapulco's main thoroughfares, the state Public Safety Secretariat said Saturday in a statement.

Police later found the dismembered bodies of two men early Saturday near the entrance to a shopping center.

The victims have not been identified and authorities said the deaths may be related to a gangland settling of scores.