Duterte wants seized cocaine bricks burned

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is against the idea of bringing to Manila the 56 bricks of high-grade cocaine seized in a refrigerated shipping container here the other week, as he wants them burned.

Duterte said he would confer with Senior Superintendent Vicente Danao, city police chief, on how and where to destroy the cocaine.

This developed as a truck operator of Sumifru Philippines Inc., an agribusiness company, has returned three of 11 cocaine bricks reported missing from the shipping container.

The truck operator, whose identity has been withheld, reportedly sought the help of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 11 office in his desire to return the three cocaine bricks in his possession.

With this, authorities are still looking for the eight remaining cocaine bricks. Duterte earlier had offered a P100,000 reward for information on each of the missing cocaine blocks. 

The 56 cocaine blocks earlier seized at the Sumifru container yard in Barangay Tibungco here were reportedly worth more than P350 million.