P79M recovered in Maute lair possibly came from drug transactions —AFP official

A military official on Friday said the P79-million cash and checks recovered in the Maute group's lair in Marawi City may have come from illegal drugs transactions.

"Well actually based doon sa naging report, these came from...because one of the groups the Maute is involved in business is construction so they are payments. And of course, because it's a huge amount of money, the other group of the clan is involved in illegal activities like illegal drugs, so there's always that possibility of process from illegal activities," Brig. Gen. Melquiades Feliciano told reporters in an ambush interview.

Feliciano is the current Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil-Military Operations (CMO) and J7 of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

Members of the Philippine Marines earlier recovered P79-million in cash and checks from a stronghold of the Maute group in Barangay Mapandi, Marawi City.

Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera, 1st Infantry Battalion spokesperson, said P52.2 million cash and P27 million worth of checks were found in the Maute group's stronghold.

Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said the cash and checks were found during a house-to-house clearing by the Marines in the barangay. —KG, GMA News