A total of 128 foreign fugitives who are wanted for various crimes in their homelands were arrested by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) last year.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that based on a report from BI- fugitive search unit (FSU) head Rendel Ryan Sy, the alien fugitives were captured in various operations that the unit’s operatives conducted in different places nationwide, where the said foreigners were hiding or have stayed since they arrived in the country.
All of them were already included in the immigration blacklist of undesirable aliens, hence they are perpetually barred from re-entering the country.
Sy also reported that nearly all of the captured fugitives were already deported and are already serving time in prison in their respective countries after being convicted of the crimes they allegedly committed.
Tansingco commended the FSU for its accomplishments, saying it sends a signal that the Philippines is not a refuge or sanctuary for foreign criminals who want to evade arrest and prosecution for crimes they committed in their country.
The FSU also reported that 39 South Koreans account for the bulk of the arrested fugitives, followed by 25 Chinese nationals, 15 Vietnamese, 12 Taiwanese, 11 Americans, and eight Japanese. Offenses committed by the others include involvement in economic crimes, investment scams, illegal gambling, money laundering, telecommunications fraud, robbery, and smuggling.
A notable arrest was that of 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 in 2023 was Risa Yamada, Fujita Kairi, and Sato Shohei who were located in January, March, and April for their affiliation with the infamous ‘Luffy’ syndicate.
“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,” Tansingco declared.
