32 killed in bloody night for Duterte’s war on drugs

Thirty-two suspected drug dealers were killed in shootouts across one province in the Philippines on Tuesday, police said, in a bloody 24 hours for the country’s war on drugs.

Police conducted 66 “buy-bust” operations, in which undercover police attempt to buy illegal drugs from suspected dealers, in the province of Bulacan, just north of the capital, Manila, Romeo Caramat Jr., Bulacan Provincial Director Senior Superintendent, said.

Twenty of the “buy bust” operations and 14 searches “resulted in armed encounter,” Caramat added.

Since coming to power in June 2016, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has unleashed an aggressive crackdown on drugs that has left at least 3,400 alleged dealers and users dead.

On Wednesday he praised the operations, saying, “That’s good. If we can only kill 32 every day, maybe we can fix what ails this country,” according to a translation by CNN affiliate CNN Philippines.

The number of dead suspects Tuesday is the highest the province has seen in a single night, Caramat said. He referred to the night of police action as a “one-time, big-time” operation, indicating that it was targeting “notorious drug pushers.”

In addition to the 32 killed, 107 persons were arrested, he added.

Photos: Philippines drug crackdown

PHOTO: Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images

Police patrol a shanty community at night during curfew on June 8, 2016 in Manila.

Photos: Philippines drug crackdown

PHOTO: TED ALJIBE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Some 1,000 people whom authorities accused of being drug users and dealers take an oath before local authorities after turning themselves in in Tanauan, the Philippines, on July 18, 2016.

Photos: Philippines drug crackdown

PHOTO: TED ALJIBE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

A man authorities accused of being a drug user is fingerprinted during the mass surrender of some 1,000 alleged drug users and pushers in the Philippine town of Tanauan, located about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of Manila on July 18, 2016.

Photos: Philippines drug crackdown

PHOTO: TED ALJIBE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

A social worker gives counseling to those who have turned themselves in for drug-related crimes in the Philippines on July 18, 2016.

Photos: Philippines drug crackdown

PHOTO: NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images

A woman cradles her husband, next to a placard which reads "I'm a pusher," who was shot dead in Manila on July 23, 2016.

Photos: Philippines drug crackdown

PHOTO: TED ALJIBE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

A Philippine police forensic investigator displays packets of drugs and a hand gun found inside a shanty where members of a suspected drug syndicate were killed after a shootout with police on July 3, 2016.

Photos: Philippines drug crackdown

PHOTO: Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images

A suspected female member of a drug syndicate is presented by police in Manila on June 22, 2016.

Photos: Philippines drug crackdown

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A gun, bullets, marked money and sachets of crystal meth are laid on a table after a drug raid in Manila on June 20, 2016.

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Police officers stand in formation before the start of "Oplan Rody" on June 1, 2016, a law enforcement operation named after President Duterte, whose nickname is Rody.

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“Some quarters of the society are questioning why that many ended up dead, but all we can say is that we don’t have any control of the situation,” Caramat added.

“These subjects in this one time big-time operations, they are what we call the notorious drug pushers. They are called notorious. They won’t let themselves be arrested alive.”

PHOTO: RTVM

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Uncontrollable problem?

Prior to Tuesday’s police operation, Bulacan provincial police disclosures show at least 14 drug suspects died in separate police operations over the course of the month.

In July, at least 18 suspects were recorded dead in drug-related operations in the province.

Last week, Duterte sa