Cocaine worth R80m found in drum

MILLIONS of dollars of cocaine packed in a plastic drum has washed up on a seashore in the Philippines, an anti-narcotics official said yesterday.

A local fisherman in the town of Matnog found the drum on Wednesday and reported it to authorities, not knowing what was inside, said Christian Frivaldo, a regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Inside the drum, anti-drug agents found about 24kg of cocaine bricks wrapped in plastic.

Frivaldo estimated the value of the cocaine at about 125 million pesos (R79.7 million).

The source of the cocaine found in Matnog – about 403km southeast of the capital Manila – may be a Taiwanflagged cargo vessel that was hit by huge waves off the eastern Philippines a day before the cocaine was found, he said.

Nine Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese crewmen are under the custody of the local government after they were rescued from their damaged ship, he added.

“We are checking their vessel (to see) if there is additional evidence inside,” Frivaldo said.

The seizure comes as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte wages a bloody war on drugs that has resulted in nearly 4 000 “drug personalities” killed by police, while thousands of others have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. — AFP