MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican authorities found 20 bodies in the western state of Sinaloa, many of them inside a van, the state prosecutor’s office told Reuters on Monday, amid rising violence in the area linked to organized crime.

The prosecutor’s office said 16 bodies were found inside the van and four others were discovered on a bridge on the same highway near the state capital of Culiacan. At least six of them were decapitated, the office said.

Sinaloa has been gripped by months of intense violence fueled by rival drug trafficking groups vying for control of routes used to produce and transport narcotics, including fentanyl, that are often destined for the United States.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz, Writing by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Sarah Morland)