Human remains were found in barrels containing acid in Mexico.

According to Mexico's local prosecutor's office, the remains could belong to at least three people.

"It's likely more than three people, we still need to study the contents of the bags," a Puebla prosecution source told AFP on Saturday (via RT). Police found 10 barrels and nine bags of human remains, including one of a man in his 50s.

The same source said that police discovered the barrels after an anonymous phone tip, AFP added.

Connections with Another Case

The prosecutor's office suspects that the case is related to a shooting that occurred on Tuesday in Cuautlancingo, an area in Puebla, AFP further reported.

According to the news outlet, at least a hundred hooded men appeared at an illegal cockfight den and killed two people and kidnapped at least 20 individuals. Local authorities have identified at least six of the gunmen, but they haven't found those who were abducted. The suspects are believed to be members of a criminal gang.

Consequences of the Drug War

Mexico has long battled drug cartels. One of the most publicized killings believed to be carried out by a drug gang is the Sept. 2014 disappearance of 43 students in the southwestern city of Iguala. Families of the victims believe that the drug gang was working with local police.

Last week, VICE News reported that cartel gunmen are targeting politicians and police in Mexico's Jalisco state.

Five police officers were recently murdered by gunmen in two separate shootings in Jalisco, the news outlet added. The first attack occurred on Feb. 24, when three municipal police officers were fatally shot in Tlaquepaque. The day after, the Tlaquepaque police chief and his deputy resigned fearing for their personal safety.

The second attack was in Guadalajara, where assailants murdered two state police officers in their car. On March 1, the mayor of Ahualulco, a small town in Guadalajara, survived an assassination attempt by gunmen, thanks to his bulletproof vehicle.

According to the study published by the journal Health Affairs last January, male life expectancy rates plummeted in all of Mexico's 31 states as violence related to drug wars escalated between 2005 and 2010, a period when the government implemented a militarized crackdown on organized crime.

Life expectancy for Mexican men is now slightly lower than 72 years, six months lower than in 2005, the study added. This has downplayed a decade of public health improvements in the country.