Mexican police find 6 severed heads in a cooler left on the roadside in Sonora

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Police in the northern Mexico state of Sonora say six severed human heads have been found in a plastic cooler on a roadside.

A Sonora official who was not authorized to be quoted by name says the grisly artifact was reported to an emergency number.

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There was no immediate information on the identity of the men, nor were their bodies immediately found.

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The heads were discovered Friday near the city of Ciudad Obregon.

READ MORE: 250 skulls found in clandestine graves near Veracruz, Mexico over past few months

Drug gangs often leave severed heads as a warning to rivals or authorities.

Until now, Sonora has not seen as much drug violence as other northern states.