Mexico City  - A former mayor of Michoacan state and the homicide department chief of Jalisco state were killed Friday in Mexico in the continuing endless wave of violence.

Police said former mayor Nicolas Leon Hernandez had been shot in the face and his body bore signs of torture. Also attached to his body was a message, apparently signed by La Familia Michoacana, one of the top six Mexican drug cartels.

Hernandez served two terms as mayor of the port of Lazaro Cardenas on the Pacific, some 550 kilometres southwest of Mexico City.

"For all those who support Los Zetas. Sincerely FM," the message on Hernandez's body said, according to media reports.

La Familia Michoacana is embroiled in a turf war over Michoacan territory with the group Los Zetas.

The rivalry between both groups has caused violence in Michoacan to spiral in March, with 39 dead in incidents linked to organized crime.

In Guadalajara, some 550 kilometres northwest of Mexico City, the chief of the homicide department, Carlos Alberto Rayas Rodriguez, was shot dead by assailants on a motorbike as he travelled in a van.

In 2008, more than 6,300 murders in Mexico were blamed on drug cartel conflicts, including the deaths of more than 500 police and military officers. (dpa)