BI captures alleged ‘Luffy’ gang member in Makati

MANILA, Philippines — A Japanese man believed to be a member of the “Luffy” gang and wanted by Japanese authorities for robbery was arrested on Sunday by agents of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Makati.

Nagaura Hiroki, 26, is undergoing deportation proceedings, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said yesterday.

Hiroki is being held at the BI facility at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig.

Tansingco said Hiroki was apprehended by members of the BI fugitive search unit (FSU) along Estrella Avenue in Barangay Poblacion, Makati.

The Luffy group is reportedly responsible for a series of robberies perpetrated by Japanese nationals while they were detained in the Philippines.

Tansingco said that even while in detention, the Japanese suspects allegedly managed to use their mobile phones and recruit their accomplices in Japan.

The Luffy group was allegedly involved in over 50 cases of robbery and theft in Japan from 2021 to 2022.

Japanese authorities had long been hunting down Hiroki and sought the BI’s help in locating his whereabouts.

The BI board of commissioners issued an order for Hiroki’s deportation to Japan in 2022.

“He was included in the BI’s blacklist of undesirable aliens, thus he is barred from reentering the Philippines,” Tansingco said.

According to acting FSU chief Rendel Ryan Sy, Hiroki arrived in the Philippines as a tourist on Nov. 20, 2019.

The BI learned about the fugitive’s criminal cases in Japan only in 2022, Sy said.

Upon receiving the information, the BI immediately conducted a manhunt for Hiroki as well as his other cohorts in the Luffy scheme.

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

Hiroki reportedly has a standing warrant of arrest issued by the Tokyo Summary Court for theft.

In March, the BI deported two members of the Luffy group: Sugano Kazushi and Shimoeda Saito.