CULIACAN, Mexico (AFP) - Police on Monday found the bullet-riddled bodies of 12 people in a pickup truck in northwestern Mexico, authorities said.

The bodies, which have not been identified, were recovered in the state of Sinaloa, the home base of the Sinaloa cartel.

Mr Marco Antonio Higuera Gomez, Sinaloa's attorney general, said the bodies had gunshot wounds.

The Sinaloa cartel's leader, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, considered the world's most powerful drug lord, was arrested in February.