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Palace: Gov't proving link between drugs and Maute 'rebellion'


Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Saturday that the illegal drugs found in the home of former Marawi City mayor Omar Solitario Ali will hopefully prove the link between illegal drugs and the ongoing attack by the Maute group.

"This development will hopefully bring to bear the realities existing in the area about the close relation between the illegal drug trade and this ongoing rebellion," Abella said in an interview on dzRB radio.

Police found P10 million worth of shabu in one of Ali's homes, two to three kilometers from the combat zone, just days after another batch of suspected shabu worth P100 million was discovered from a Maute hideout.

Ali is being accused of being a financier of the Maute in Marawi City.

He was also named by President Rodrigo Duterte last year as one of the current and former government officials allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.

The former mayor was included in the arrest order released by the Department of National Defense (DND) that contains a list of 125 alleged Maute members.

Earlier this month, a military official said the P79 million cash and checks recovered from a Maute group hideout in Barangay Mapandi may have come from illegal drugs transactions. —Rie Takumi/ALG, GMA News

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