Dismembered body parts have been found in a burning car in North Dublin.
Fire crews were called to the blaze at 1.30am on Wednesday morning.
Partial remains were found inside the vehicle, the Irish Mirror reports .
It comes after body parts were found dumped in a sports bag in a Narcos-style killing by feuding drug mobs.
Gardai believe the grim discoveries may be linked to the disappearance of a missing 17-year-old who has not been seen in several days.
Sinn Fein TD Denise Mitchell described the barbaric find as “distressing and horrific”.
Gardai are trying to identify the victim and have appealed to families with missing loved ones to get in touch.
The remains were being examined at the city morgue.
A head and torso have still not been found, leading to fears the dismemberment is a deliberate terror tactic rather than an attempt to get rid of the body.
Sources claim feuding gangs had issued a threat to kill and “chop up” rival members in recent days.
One line of inquiry centres on a naive teenager linked to one of the feuding drugs mobs in Drogheda who have been waging a violent turf war in recent months.
The youth was said to have contacts with the faction behind an attempted hit in the town on Monday which left an innocent taxi driver injured.
The intended target was a leading member of one of the gangs who escaped unhurt and it is feared his mob could have carried out the abduction and murder of the teenager.
Relatives and friends of the missing youth have been desperately trying to contact him for a number of days and were still hoping he would be found safe.
A Garda spokesperson said: "Partial body remains have been located in this burnt out vehicle and due to the nature of the incident it will be some time before proper identification can be confirmed.
"The Garda Technical Bureau have been notified and the Office of the State Pathologist and the Coroner have been notified. The assistance of Forensic Science Ireland will also be sought.
"Investigations ongoing and no further comment will be made at this time."
