Mahathir on curbing illegal drugs: Protect PHL borders from smugglers, focus on supply side

For Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, it is better to focus on the "supply side" of illegal drugs to address the drug menace in the Philippines.

Mahathir, who is in Manila for a two-day official visit, also advised local authorities to impose stricter measures in guarding the borders to prevent the smuggling of illegal drugs.

"Drugs are produced in one place and transported to another places. We must be able to look at our borders well and we must have cooperation in terms of information so that we will know who is doing the wrong thing especially smuggling of drugs," Mahathir said in an interview with GMA resident analyst Richard Heydarian on Friday.

"If we limit smuggling, we will solve half of the problem," the 93-year-old Malaysian leader added.

Since he assumed office in 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte has been waging an all-out war against illegal drugs, which has been deeply condemned by local and international human rights groups.

Despite this, Duterte vowed that his anti-narcotics campaign would be harsher until the end of his term.

Latest data from the government showed that a total of 5,176 suspected drug individuals have been killed since Duterte went into power in July 2016. — MDM, GMA News