Eight men were found dead with their throats slit Friday in a southern Mexican region gripped by drug violence, officials said.

Their hands and feet were also tied, said Juan Mateo Rodriguez, an Oaxaca state police deputy from the Cuenca del Papaloapan region.

Several bodies were inside an abandoned van, while others were near the vehicle.

"Farmers who had been going to work around the town of Cosolapa found the bodies and alerted us," said Rodriguez.

The town, home to 15,000 people, is in Oaxaca, one of Mexico's poorest states and the scene of violence linked to drug cartels' battles for control of lucrative drug trade routes to the United States.

More than 100,000 people have been killed or gone missing in drug-related violence nationwide since 2006.

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