Immigration agents arrest Chinese fugitive

April 27, 2017

Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested the other day a wanted Chinese fugitive as he was about to leave the country. ​In a report to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente Thursday, BI port operations division chief Marc Red Mariñas identified the fugitive as 51-year-old Weng Wenmin, who was intercepted at the immigration departure area of the NAIA 3 terminal. ​Mariñas said Weng was supposed to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Hongkong and had presented himself for inspection at the BI departure counter before he was arrested. ​According to Mariñas, the duty immigration officer noticed in her computer the passenger’s personal details matched those of a Chinese national who was issued a watchlist order by the BI. The BI database reportedly showed Morente issued the watchlist order against Weng last April 20 based on information the latter is a fugitive and an undesirable alien. Mariñas said the passenger was immediately turned over to members of the BI’s border monitoring and security unit at the NAIA who later brought to him to the bureau’s detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig where he is confined pending deportation proceedings. Records showed that last April 19, the BI legal division filed immigration violation charges against Weng for being an undocumented alien and for posing a risk to public interest. ​The charge sheet was filed barely two days after the Chinese embassy’s  police attaché informed the BI that Weng is a fugitive wanted for economic crimes in China and that his passport had been canceled by the Chinese government. ​The Chinese embassy, however, did not elaborate or provide additional details about the crimes that Weng committed and for which he will stand trial when he is deported to his country. ​BI officials said due to his passport’s cancellation, Weng’s working visa from the BI is deemed revoked as he had become an undocumented alien. DMS