MANILA – A South Korean businessman kidnapped by Philippine policemen under the guise of a raid on illegal drugs was murdered at the national police headquarters in Manila, authorities said Thursday.
Philippine police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said he felt deep shame as he announced the latest development in the case, which has fueled fears about widespread abuse by officers as they prosecute President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly anti-drug war.
“They know the whole story of how they took him, brought him to Camp Crame, and strangled him,” Dela Rosa said, referring to police officers accused of involvement in kidnapping and murdering the businessman, who was aged in his 50s.
Camp Crame, the national police headquarters, has a jail as well as administration buildings where all the top officers are based. It was not clear exactly where the man, who has been identified only by his surname of Ji, was killed in Camp Crame.
Ji disappeared from his home in Angeles city, about two hours’ drive north of Manila, in October last year.
The kidnappers demanded from his wife a ransom and she initially paid 5 million pesos ($100,000), thinking he was still alive, authorities said on Wednesday when they first announced details of the police officers’ involvement.
