Southeast Asia Faces 'massive' Drugs Menace: Duterte

MANILA, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Apr, 2017 ) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned Southeast Asian leaders on Saturday they were facing a "massive" illegal drug menace that could destroy their societies, as he called for a united response.

Duterte, who has faced international condemnation for his own crackdown on drugs that has claimed thousands of lives, also insisted that outsiders should not interfere in Southeast Asia's affairs.

"The illegal drug trade is massive but it is not impregnable," Duterte said in a speech to open an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders summit. "With political will and cooperation, it can be dismantled. It can be destroyed before it destroys our societies." Duterte urged the leaders to be "resolute in realising a drug-free ASEAN".