Immigration bureau reports 28 foreign fugitives arrested in half of 2021
MANILA, Philippines — The number of arrested foreign national fugitives in the country in the first half of 2021 is still down amid continuing COVID-19 restrictions, the Bureau of Immigration on Monday reported.
BI in a statement said operatives arrested 28 foreign fugitives in January to June 2021. The number is lower than records from the same period in 2020, where operatives nabbed 32 wanted foreign nationals.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said: “While admittedly we had much difficulty as our field operatives face exposure to virus, our officers remain steadfast in their duty to cleanse the country of these unwanted aliens.”
BI Fugitive Search Unit chief Rendel Sy meanwhile said most of the arrest fugitives have already been deported and are now included in the country’s blacklist, barring them from returning to the Philippines.
Broken down, South Korean nationals topped the number of arrested foreigners in the country with 19 nabbed for fraud and illegal gambling. BI operatives also arrested four Americans, a Japanese, a French, an Italian, a Polish, and a Bahraini national.
Among high profile fugitives that BI arrested are Frenchman Julien Barbier, wanted for narcotics trafficking; American John Dalton Daclan, wanted for a string of cases such as robbery, burglary, fraud, and battery; and Italian Antonello Ivaldi, a sex offender and alleged pedophile.
According to BI records, the bureau posted the biggest number of arrest of fugitives in 2019 where operatives nabbed 425 foreigners, “many of whom were Chinese nationals involved in illegal online gaming and telecom fraud operations,” BI said.
Chinese nationals also topped the number of arrested fugitives in 2018, with 116 of them nabbed for telecom fraud and cyber crimes. — Kristine Joy Patag
- Latest
- Trending
