MANILA, Philippines - In a dramatic move, the International Criminal Court on Tuesday arrested the former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte at Manila International Airport as he was returning from a trip to Hong Kong.

He was later placed on a flight to The Hague, which houses the International Criminal Court.

The ICC has been investigating since 2018, allegations that Duterte orchestrated a major crackdown on drug trafficking, which oversaw executions of tens of thousands of dealers.

The former president withdrew the Philippines from the ICC while in office.

His lawyer, Salvador Panelo, said his client's arrest was unlawful, partly because the Philippines withdrew from the court while Mr. Duterte was in office.

The former president's arrest by the Philippines government was on the order of Interpol, acting on behalf of the ICC. 

"Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general served the ICC notification for an arrest warrant to the former president for the crime of crime against humanity," a spokesperson for the Philippines government said in a statement on Tuesday.

"He's now in the custody of authorities," the statement said. It was later confirmed by both of Futerte's daughters, Sara and Veronica, and verified by Reuters, that the former presidence has since been put on a flight to The Hague.

The ICC first opened a preliminary investigation into the anti-drugs crackdown in February 2018, Big News Network reported. "Specifically it has been alleged that since July 2016 thousands of persons have been killed for reasons related to their alleged involvement in illegal drug use or dealing. While some of such killings have reportedly occurred in the context of clashes between and within gangs it is alleged that many of the reported incidents involved extrajudicial killings in the course of police anti-drug operations," a statement issued at the time said. 

On social media in the Philippines, news of the arrest failed to make any noise, as Filipinos are well used to the allegations. Many on social media at the time of the announcement of the investigation thanked the then president for his alleged crackdown.

"Thank you President Duterte for being a new solution to old problems kind of president. God bless. St. Michael prayer for protection," one poster remarked on Twitter (now X).