- Title: Philippine military seizes drugs worth millions of dollars in besieged city
- Date: 19th June 2017
- Summary: MARAWI CITY, PHILIPPINES (JUNE 19, 2017) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** PHILIPPINE SOLDIERS PLACING PACKS OF METHAMPHETAMINE INTO BAG PHILIPPINE SOLDIERS PLACING PACK OF METHAMPHETAMINE AND ISLAMIC STATE FLAG INTO BAG PHILIPPINE SOLDIERS CARRYING BAG AND WALKING OUT
- Embargoed: 3rd July 2017 08:18
- Keywords: Philippine military seize drugs millions of dollars Marawi fighters evacuation centre evacuees
- Location: ILIGAN CITY, LANAO DEL NORTE PROVINCE, MARAWI CITY, MANILA, PHILIPPINES
- City: ILIGAN CITY, LANAO DEL NORTE PROVINCE, MARAWI CITY, MANILA, PHILIPPINES
- Country: Philippines
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies
- Reuters ID: LVA0016LY0S3P
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Philippine military found methamphetamine worth between $2 million to $5 million while clearing rebel positions in besieged Marawi City, a spokesman said on Monday (June 19), boosting suspicions Islamist militants are being funded by the narcotics trade.
The 11 bags of shabu, the local name for methamphetamine, were recovered on Sunday (June 18) along with four assault rifles in the kitchen of a two-storey concrete house believed to be occupied by fighters from the Maute militant group.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who launched a ruthless 'war on drugs' after coming to power a year ago, has said the Marawi fighters are being financed by drug lords in Mindanao, an island the size of South Korea that has suffered for decades from banditry and insurgencies.
The firefight against Islamic State-linked militants has claimed more than 350 lives since the clash erupted on May 23, causing thousands of evacuees to seek temporary shelters in nearby provinces.
At least 19 evacuees have died inside temporary shelters due to various illnesses, health officials said, with sanitation and preventing the spread of contagious diseases becoming a growing concern as the battle continued on its fourth week. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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