Japanese wanted by Tokyo for theft nabbed in Makati

IMMIGRATION operatives arrested over the weekend a Japanese fugitive in Makati City over the weekend believed to be a remnant of the “Luffy” gang wanted by authorities in Tokyo for theft and robbery.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Nagaura Hiroki, 26, was apprehended last Saturday on Estrella Ave. in Barangay Poblacion, Makati City by operatives from the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU).

Tansingco said Hiroki’s arrest was sought by Japanese authorities, who had informed the BI about the fugitive’s presence in the Philippines.

“Hiroki will soon be sent back to Tokyo as he was already ordered expelled by the BI in 2022 when an order for his summary deportation was issued by the bureau’s board of commissioners,” Tansingco said.

“He was already placed in our immigration blacklist of undesirable aliens, thus he is perpetually barred from reentering the Philippines,” he added.

BI-FSU acting chief Rendel Ryan Sy said Hiroki had been in the Philippines since November 20, 2019, arriving as a tourist.

It was only in 2022 when the BI was informed of his criminal cases in Japan.

Hiroki, according to the BI, has a standing warrant of arrest issued by the Tokyo Summary Court for theft in violation of the Japanese penal code.

He is also been charged, along with another suspect, with robbing a home in Tokyo by falsely impersonating a police officer which enabled them to enter the residential premise under the pretext of investigating a stolen ATM card.

“Further, he is being investigated by the Japanese authorities for his involvement in alleged telecommunications fraud activities,” Sy said.

Hiroko is detained at the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation.

Last March, the BI deported two Japanese – Sugano Kazushi and Shimoeda Saito – who were tagged as members of the “Luffy” gang. The two have been hiding in the Philippines since 2019.

To recall, four “Luffy” gang members were deported from Manila to Tokyo last year.

The four were wanted by Japanese authorities for allegedly being behind robbery cases and other illegal activities in Japan.

“Luffy” was the alias used by Yuki Watanabe, one of the four Japanese deported last year.

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