GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AFP) - Police have found seven heads and several other severed body parts in plastic bags in the Mexican state of Jalisco, plagued by drug-related violence, prosecutors said.

Three alleged kidnappers who were arrested on Tuesday led police to the gruesome find at a farm near Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city, they said in a statement.

Coroners in Jalisco, of which Guadalajara is the capital, will carry out DNA tests to identify the victims.

Violence has surged in recent months in Jalisco as two rival drug cartels fight turf battles.

More than 70,000 people have died in drug-related unrest in the country since 2006.