Reward offered for return of 13 cocaine bricks

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Mayor Rodrigo Duterte offered yesterday a reward of P100,000 for any information on each of the 13 bricks of high-grade cocaine that remain missing, after 47 other bricks were found in a shipping container at the Sumifru Wharf in this city over the weekend.

Duterte offered the reward after wharf employees returned 23 cocaine bricks, aside from the 24 that were seized by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Davao City police office.

He advised anyone keeping the bricks to give them up or face the consequences of getting caught in possession of illegal drugs.

Duterte said anyone having information on the drugs could send a text message to him or to Davao City police office director Vicente Danao Jr.

He gave assurance that the information would remain confidential, although this would be subjected first to verification before a reward is given out.

Once identified, the holder of the cocaine bricks would be given 24 hours to surrender the illegal drug or face arrest. 

“You cannot hide that cocaine with you. Eventually, somebody else will know you have them,” Duterte warned.

Meanwhile, an officer from the Bureau of Customs (BOC), who requested anonymity, said they are also searching for the 13 missing cocaine bricks.

The source said they received information that there were actually 65 bricks of cocaine with an estimated value of P390 million smuggled into the Sumifru Wharf.

The source said the drugs were recovered at different times, adding another batch was discovered yesterday in a fuse box and plug-in rack of the wharf.  

Authorities believe the missing illegal drugs are still inside the Sumifru container yard.      – With Evelyn Macairan