Filipinos urged to hand in ‘coke floats’

MANILA: Philippine police yesterday urged fishermen and residents of coastal communities to be on the lookout for bricks of cocaine being thrown near their shores as a way to smuggle the illegal drug into the country.

The call was made after fishermen and residents from three towns along the country’s eastern coast turned over more than 60 bricks of cocaine to authorities over the past week.

On Saturday, a brick weighing almost 1kg was recovered off the shore of Paracale town in Camarines Norte province, south-east of Manila, and turned over to police.

The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte has been waging an aggressive campaign against drugs, in which more than 5000 people have been killed since 2016. |