Mexican Drug War became the starting point of the war between the government and the drug cartels. Calderón escalated his anti-drug campaign, in which there are now about 45,000 troops involved in addition to state and federal police forces. In 2010 Calderón said that the cartels seek "to replace the government" and "are trying to impose a monopoly by force of arms, and are even trying to impose their own laws." As of 2011, Mexico's military captured 11,544 people who were believed to have been involved with the cartels and organized crime. In the year prior, 28,000 individuals were arrested on drug-related charges.
Philippine Drug War was the son of an overseas Filipino worker, a key demographic in support of Duterte. The teenager's death caused condemnation by senators. His funeral on August 25, attended by more than a thousand people, was one of the largest protests to date against the Drug War. Carl Angelo Arnaiz, a 19-year-old teenager, last found in Cainta, Rizal, was tortured and shot dead also on August 17 (the same date Kian delos Santos was killed) by police after robbing a taxi in Caloocan. His 14-year-old friend, Reynaldo de Guzman, also called under the nickname "Kulot", was stabbed to death thirty times