Three men who were abducted, stabbed, bound with duct tape and tossed in a Philadelphia river may have been victims of a drug deal gone bad with a Vietnamese gang, authorities have said.

Two brothers were being held by a drug crew after gambling away money the gang gave them to buy drugs. One of the brothers called a friend and said they needed $100,000 or they would be killed. The friend said he could only get $40,000, which the drug crew said would be enough.

When the friend arrived at the house on the 240 block of South 72nd Street early Wednesday, he was robbed, bound, gagged and stabbed alongside the brothers.

The friend survived after being stabbed nine times in the neck, torso and legs.

The other two victims, who authorities are trying to identify, had their throats slit and their bodies anchored down with weights before they were tossed into the water, according to Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark.

"These three were very much targeted and there is drug nexus," Clark said.

The victims were taken off the street by five or six men early yesterday morning and tossed into the back of a van, police said. They had their hands tied behind their backs with duct tape and their ankles bound as well. Duct tape was also placed over their mouths and “their eyes were covered,” Clark said.

They were taken to the Schuylkill River in Fairmount Park, where they were dumped into the water. Two of the victims were weighted down by some sort of heavy object and drowned in five to ten feet of water. A bucket was apparently used as one of the makeshift anchors, police said.

The lone survivor was able to stay afloat, dressed only in underwear and a shirt and with his legs and arms still partially bound. When he heard the attackers leave, he was able to get out of the water. He made it to a nearby road and started screaming at passing cars prompting someone to call 911, police said. The man is in stable condition at Hahnemann hospital, police said.

The bodies