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President Rodrigo Duterte has warned that containers of legitimate importers are now being used by drug smugglers.

In a speech in Manila on Sunday night, Duterte also said a thorough investigation should be conducted before blaming most Chinese in illegal drug activities.

"Now in the Philippines, I’d like to give you a little bit of what we have learned so far. I think this dope situation in Southeast Asia is being run by the Triad of Asia," he said.

"And [Sinaloa] it’s doing it’s thing, the Medellin Cartel, using the network of containers. That is why do not conclude right away that the owner of the container is the smuggler of the drugs. The smugglers and the [Sinaloa] have a captive audience inside," the President said, adding that the illegal drugs covered by high-grade plastics would usually be placed under the ceiling of the container steel.

He said one of those containers was intercepted in Davao.

"That's why it's pitiful for the people, especially the legit importers and their containers are taken advantage of by criminal gangs," he added.

"So there has to be a thorough investigation before we start to blame mostly Chinese. Seek first the, I said the advice of… Anyway we have the cooperative international intelligence sharing and we can have that," Duterte said.

Duterte, who declared an all-out war against illegal drugs, urged authorities not to drag along innocent people into a criminal case, which they are not sure of.

Drug syndicates have been resorting now to this scheme of placing the illegal drugs in the containers because the number of illegal drug laboratories in the Philippine has significantly dwindled, he said.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency previously found empty magnetic lifters in Cavite allegedly containing P6.8 billion worth of shabu. It was not sure if the illegal drugs were recovered. Celerina Monte/DMS