By Fifteen police officers have been taken into custody and are being investigated for their alleged role in the abductions and feared killings of at least 34 cockfighters, the Philippine police chief said.
The missing people were accused of cheating in the hugely popular sport, with their bodies reportedly dumped in a scenic lake with a restive volcano.
The victims went missing around 2021 and 2022 mostly while on their way to or from cockfighting arenas dotting the main northern Philippine region of Luzon, including in the metropolitan Manila capital region.
The unresolved disappearances again drew public attention after a key witness recently surfaced and accused his former employer, a gambling tycoon, of masterminding the killings, with bodies reportedly dumped in Taal Lake south of Manila or burned elsewhere.
