128 wanted foreigners nabbed last year: BI
A TOTAL of 128 foreigners who are wanted for various crimes in their countries were apprehended in the country last year, the Bureau of Immigration said yesterday.
In a report submitted to the office of Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU) said the foreigners were captured in various operations conducted in different places nationwide where the foreigners were hiding or have stayed since they arrived in the country.
The FSU report also said “nearly all” of the captured fugitives have been deported and are serving time in prison in their countries.
South Koreans accounted for the bulk of the fugitives with 39, followed by 25 Chinese, 15 Vietnamese, 12 Taiwanese, 11 Americans, and eight Japanese.
Offenses committed included involvement in economic crimes, investment scams, illegal gambling, money laundering, telecommunications fraud, robbery, and smuggling.
Tansingco said a notable apprehension involved Manpreet Singh and his cohorts last March, who were tagged as members of an extremist group known as the Khalistan Tiger Force in India.
Also arrested last year were Japanese Risa Yamada, Fujita Kairi, and Sato Shohei for their affiliation with the infamous “Luffy” syndicate and were subsequently deported to Tokyo.
“All of them were already included in the immigration blacklist of undesirable aliens, hence they are perpetually barred from re-entering the country,” Tansingco said.
The BI chief said the apprehensions of these foreign fugitives send a signal that the Philippines is not a refuge or sanctuary for those who want to evade arrest and prosecution for crimes committed in other countries.
“Our country is off limits to these foreign fugitives. They are not welcome here and there will be no letup in our campaign to hunt and deport them so they could be tried for the criminal cases that were filed against them,” he added.
In 2021, immigration authorities nabbed 83 foreign fugitives wanted in their home countries for various offenses, including cyber-crime, murder and mafia connection.
