Four human skulls have been discovered inside a package at a Mexican airport that was headed to the US by courier.

A statement from the National Guard said the skulls were found wrapped in aluminium foil inside a cardboard box after being detected by X-ray equipment at Queretaro Intercontinental Airport in central Mexico.

It added the package had been sent from the western coastal state of Michoacan and was on the way to an address in Manning, South Carolina.

The National Guard gave no further details on the age, identity or possible motive for the sending of the human remains.

The transfer of human remains requires a special permit from a competent health authority, which was not obtained, it said.

Michoacan is one of Mexico’s most violent states, with the city of Apatzingan having long been dominated by the Viagras drug cartel.

The Guardia Nacional wrote on Facebook: “During inspections at packaging companies and through an X-ray team, the #NationalGuardia detected at the Intercontinental Airport of #Querétaro, four skulls apparently of human origin, wrapped in transparent plastic and aluminium paper minio, no health record.”

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