Philippine police suspend anti-drug operations, declare war on rogue cops

Philippine police are suspending their anti-narcotics operation until they have cleansed their ranks of “scalawags” the chief of the force said on Monday, following the killing of a South Korean businessmen by rogue officers.

The police campaign, dubbed “Oplan Double Barrel” which also includes “Tokhang”, in which police go house to house knocking on doors in search of drug suspects, has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 suspected drug users and pushers.

“To all the rogue cops, beware! We no longer have a war on drugs. We now have a war on scalawags,” Philippine National Police (PNP) Director-General Ronald dela Rosa told a news conference.

Dela Rosa’s pronouncement came a few hours after he said he would disband anti-drugs units following the kidnapping and killing of businessman in the national police headquarters in October.

The president and his police chief “should categorically give the order to end the killings,” said Senator Leila De Lima, President Rodrigo Duterte’s most outspoken critic.

The dismantling of the anti-drug units meant “they are aware that the very men involved in anti-drug operations…are involved in illegal activities under the guise of the so-called war on drugs,” she told ANC television.

Read the whole story from Reuters.