Arrested Canadian nationals Ali Memar Mortazavi Shirazi and James Clayton Riach, back right, walk towards the office of a state prosecutor for their inquest proceeding at the Department of Justice in Manila, Philippines, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014. Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said four Canadians, including Riach and Shirazi, were arrested Wednesday for allegedly trafficking illegal drugs from Mexico. The suspects have alleged links to a Mexican cartel and are undercutting Chinese traffickers dominating the local market and this could trigger a drug war, NBI said. Agents seized cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA, which is similar to ecstasy, from one of the condominiums enough to fill at least three suitcases. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
January 16, 2014 - 12:16 AM
MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine government investigator says four Canadians have been arrested for allegedly trafficking illegal drugs from Mexico.
Rommell Vallejo, chief of the Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division of the National Bureau of Investigation, said Thursday that the suspects have alleged links to a Mexican cartel and are undercutting Chinese traffickers dominating the local market and this could trigger a drug war.
Vallejo says the suspects were arrested Wednesday in separate raids on three posh condominiums in Manila with a large stash of drugs.
Agents seized cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA, which is similar to ecstasy, from one of the condominiums enough to fill at least three suitcases.
He says the wife of one of them also is in custody.
Vallejo says they face life imprisonment if convicted.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014