Duterte warns drug peddlers in Davao: ‘my order is shoot to kill’

NOTORIOUS TOUGH GUY. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Photo courtesy of Duterte’s official Facebook page.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is adamant at protecting his city and keeping it drug-free.

On Tuesday, with his shoot-to-kill order still being implemented in his territory, Duterte warned whoever is responsible for the disappearance of two bricks of cocaine from city authorities.

“Do not wait that this will be recovered in your hands. My order is shoot to kill,” Duterte said. “Think about yourself, your family.”

According to Duterte, the police already had a lead on who stole the bricks.

“More or less we have an idea on the identity of the person who we are looking for,” said Duterte.

“I hope that whoever is hiding it that he will feel concern for his self and his family. Try to find a better job or else your wife will be a widow,” he added.

Since the disappearance, the local authorities have increased its security by setting up additional checkpoints at random locations to recover the missing bricks and prevent more illegal drugs from entering the city.

On March 22, local authorities discovered 24 bricks of cocaine hidden within the walls of a container van at the Simifru container yard in Tibungco District. 38 other bricks were surrendered to and/or seized by the authorities through a series of buy-bust operations after the container van was discovered. The container van reportedly has enough room for 64 bricks, which means there are still two bricks of cocaine unaccounted for.

Each brick—weighing roughly 1.1 kilograms—is said to be worth P5 million.

The local government of Davao has offered a reward to anyone who can provide substantial information to ascertain the whereabouts of the missing cocaine bricks.

With report from Karlos Manlupig