BI nabbed 421 foreign criminals in 2019

December 30, 2019

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Monday its operatives arrested in 2019 more than 400 foreign fugitives.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said many of the 423 alien fugitives arrested by the bureau’s fugitive search unit (FSU) were deported to their countries of origin and are behind bars.


The number, according to the BI, is a 64 percent increase from 2018's figures.


“They can no longer come back because they have been placed in our blacklist of undesirable aliens,” Morente said. “We cannot allow these criminals to use the Philippines as their sanctuary.”


Morente said the arrested aliens were wanted for various serious offenses, including rape, child molestation, illegal drugs, fraud, cyber crimes, and large-scale economic crimes.


FSU chief Bobby Raquepo said they have been in "close coordination with foreign authorities to locate and arrest wanted aliens, whose stay in the country is detrimental to public safety and interest".


FSU statistics showed the bulk of those arrested were 324 Chinese nationals, 277 of whom were rounded up during a raid of their lairs at the Ortigas Center in Pasig City last September.


The 277 Chinese nationals were all wanted for involvement in a large-scale investment scam where 1,000 of their compatriots were victimized and whose combined losses amounted to more than 100 million yuan or more than $14 million.


Last month, FSU operatives also arrested 36 Japanese nationals wanted by authorities for involvement in telecom fraud and theft and whose victims allegedly incurred losses of more than 2 billion yen or more than $18 million.


The FSU’s list of arrested fugitives also included 27 Koreans, 20 Americans, three other Japanese, as well as three Taiwanese and two Britons.


Completing the list is a Russian, a Swede, a Malaysian, a Colombian, an Australian, and a German.


Morente vowed for a more intensified campaign against illegal aliens and foreign fugitives for 2020.


"These criminals are not welcome here in the Philippines," he said. "Many of which are part of international syndicates that try to relocate their operations in the country. We will not allow this.  They will be arrested, deported, and immediately banned from returning," he said. DMS