Drug ring’s ‘hit job’ confirmed

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Friday confirmed that assassins have been sent to kill the two Filipino-Canadians, said to be members of an international drug syndicate, who were arrested in Taguig City the other week.

In an interview with reporters, De Lima said the National Bureau of Investigation received “from their foreign counterparts” the information about the assassins. She said she had already alerted the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to be on the lookout for the killers.

“There were two sent here or are about to send here to access those who have been arrested, to silence them,” De Lima said, adding that from what she was told, the assassins were also Canadians and sent by a Canada-based syndicate with ties to a Mexican drug cartel.

De Lima said they already have the names and photos of the killers. However, she said, the NBI and the BI do not know for sure if the killers were already in, or still on their way to, the Philippines.

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