MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Philippine officials say nine drug suspects have been killed and 117 others have been arrested in police-led raids in a central province, as the government pressed a massive crackdown that has left more than 4,800 suspects dead.

Regional police Chief Superintendent Debold Sinas says nine drug suspects were killed separately in gunbattles with law enforcers in dozens of coordinated raids from Wednesday to Thursday noon in central Cebu province. Nearly 1,000 packets of methamphetamine, a banned stimulant, and 78 firearms were seized in the raids.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said his war on drug will be "as relentless and chilling" as when he launched it after taking office in 2016 despite facing two complaints for mass murder before the International Criminal Court and criticism from Western governments and U.N. watchdogs. </s> MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police said Wednesday that an updated report shows anti-drug operations in a northern province this week left 32 alleged drug offenders dead — 11 more than earlier reported as the highest death toll in a single day since President Rodrigo Duterte launched his war on drugs a year ago.

Senior Superintendent Romeo M. Caramat Jr. said 66 police operations in various parts of Bulacan province Tuesday left 32 suspects dead in encounters with police, while 107 others were arrested.

Confiscated during the operations were more than 200 grams of methamphetamine, 786 grams of marijuana, assorted firearms, grenades and ammunition.

Police records show that since the nationwide crackdown started, more than 3,200 alleged drug offenders have been killed in gunbattles with law enforcers. More than 2,000 others died in drug-related homicides, including attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen and other assaults.

Human rights groups report a higher toll and demand an independent investigation into Duterte’s possible role in the violence.

Copyright © 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine police official says law enforcers have killed 13 drug suspects and arrested more than 100 suspected dealers and criminals in 24 hours of raids in a province with a record of bloody crackdowns.

Police Senior Superintendent Romeo Caramat Jr. says the 13 drug suspects were killed Wednesday in gunbattles with police in a city and eight towns in Bulacan province just north of Manila. More than 70 raids were launched by the police in Bulacan that day, leading to the arrests of 109 people, including 92 suspected drug dealers and users.

The latest violence raises the death toll in President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown to 4,239 since it was launched in July 2016. The U.S. and European countries have expressed alarm over the drug killings. </s> MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police, backed by troops, killed nine drug suspects and arrested more than 100 others in two days of raids that ended Thursday in a central province as the government pressed…

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police, backed by troops, killed nine drug suspects and arrested more than 100 others in two days of raids that ended Thursday in a central province as the government pressed a massive crackdown that has left more than 4,800 suspects dead.

Regional police Chief Superintendent Debold Sinas said the nine suspects were killed separately in gunbattles with law enforcers in dozens of coordinated raids from Wednesday to Thursday noon in central Cebu province. Nearly 1,000 small plastic bags of methamphetamine, a banned stimulant, and 78 firearms were seized in the raids, he said.

“All nine suspects exchanged fire with my men after sensing they were dealing with undercover officers,” Sinas said of the slain suspects, adding that law enforcers carried out 48 “buy-bust operations” in which undercover police pretended to be drug buyers.

Police said 103 of the 117 suspects arrested in the raids in Cebu have been linked to illegal drugs. The law enforcers served more than 70 search warrants in houses of drug suspects and 11 other search warrants for people suspected of illegally possessing firearms and ammunition, they said.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said his war on drug will be “as relentless and chilling” as when he launched it after taking office in June 2016 despite facing two complaints for mass murder before the International Criminal Court and criticism from Western governments and U.N. watchdogs.

Human rights groups have cited much higher death tolls than the 4,854 suspects the government’s Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said were killed in clashes with police between July 2016 and Aug. 31 of this year. They say many suspects may have been killed in police rubouts in which they were made to appear to have fought back by placing guns in their hands.

Duterte and police officials have denied condoning extrajudicial killings in the crackdown, although the volatile leader has repeatedly threatened drug suspects with death. Since the crackdown began, more than 155,000 drug suspects have been arrested in more than 108,000 anti-drug operations, the government said.

Officials have cited the massive arrests to argue that many suspects have not died in police raids and that most of those who perished fought back and endangered officers. The deaths of mostly poor drug suspects are unprecedented in scale.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> MANILA, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Twenty-five criminals were killed overnight in the Philippine capital Manila, police said on Thursday, including 14 in anti-drug operations in a second night of heavy bloodshed this week as a fierce war on drugs intensifies.

The killings across Manila followed 32 deaths in near-simultaneous police operations on Monday night through to Tuesday in Bulacan province, marking the deadliest period of a controversial crackdown by President Rodrigo Duterte that has killed thousands of Filipinos.

Joel Napoleon Coronel, director of Manila Police District, told reporters the 14 were killed in sting operations and 11 other deaths were robbers who were also involved in narcotics.

The identity of the killers of the 11 people were not known and the incidents were under investigation, police reports said. (Reporting by Dondi Tawatao; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Kim Coghill) </s> Thirty two suspected drug dealers were killed in police shootouts in the Philippines on Tuesday night, during the bloodiest 24 hours so far of a state war on drugs that has killed over 7,000 people in the last year.

The police conducted 49 “buy-bust” operations, using undercover officers to attempt to buy drugs from suspected dealers, and 14 raids, in the province of Bucalan, just north of the capital, Manila, said police superintendent Romeo Caramat.

Describing his forces’ actions as “one time, big time”, he said that 25 of these operations had “resulted in armed encounter” during which 32 were killed and 107 were arrested. Officers also confiscated over 200 grams of methamphetamine, 786g of marijuana, and firearms.

Mr Caramat told reporters that while the police tried to avoid casualties during their operations, that “we do not have control of the situation.” </s> Thirteen alleged drug traffickers were shot dead by the police in 24 hours in the Bulacan province in Philippines as part of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

The police killed 13 suspects and arrested another 109 during an intensive operation that lasted from Tuesday midnight to Thursday, according to a statement by the National Police in Bulacan, a province located north of Manila with a population of 2.2 million. </s> Philippine police killed 13 suspected drug dealers and arrested more than 100 people in dozens of anti-narcotics operations on Wednesday in a province north of the capital, its police chief said.

More than 4,000 Filipinos have been killed by police, and thousands more by unidentified armed men, during President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial 20-month war on drugs. Most killings have been in rundown areas of Manila and the nearby provinces of Bulacan and Cavite.

Human rights groups and Duterte’s political opponents say executions of drug users and small-time peddlers are widespread, but police insist those killed were all dealers who put up violent resistance.

Police in Bulacan ran about 60 sting operations in nine towns, the police chief said on Thursday.

Bulacan is where 32 people were killed in a single day in August last year. Last month, an additional 10 drug suspects died in a bloody night of drug busts.

“These operations are part of our stepped-up campaign against drugs and all other forms of criminality in the province,” Bulacan police chief Romeo Caramat said in a statement. “Unfortunately, 13 of the suspects were killed when our officers fired in self-defence shortly after the suspects who were armed with concealed guns sensed they were being entrapped and started firing.”

More than 100 people were also arrested and 19 firearms and about 250 packets of suspected drugs were seized during the 24-hour operation, Caramat said.

Last month, a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague opened a preliminary examination into a complaint accusing Duterte and at least 11 officials of crimes against humanity.

The Philippines last week notified the United Nations of its decision to withdraw from the ICC because of what Duterte called outrageous attacks by UN officials and violations of due process. </s> MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Philippine police say they have killed at least 26 more drug offenders in overnight gunbattles in the capital, bringing the death toll in the president's renewed crackdown to 58 in the last three days.

President Rodrigo Duterte expressed his satisfaction with the new spike in drug killings and reassured law enforcers Thursday he would ensure they will not rot in jail if they get entangled in lawsuits.

Manila police Chief Superintendent Joel Napoleon Coronel says 26 drug suspects were killed and more than 70 others arrested across the congested city in overnight police assaults.

The deaths followed the killings of 32 suspects in separate police anti-drug raids Tuesday in Bulacan province north of Manila under Duterte's notoriously bloody campaign that has horrified rights groups.
At least 14 people are killed in separate drug-related incidents in Cebu Province, Philippines.