The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has acquired various state-of-the-art equipment and gadgets that will hopefully bolster the agency’s capability to detect, apprehend and thwart the entry of international terrorists and ‘wanted’ foreign criminals to the country.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente personally received the devices donated by European Union during last Monday’s turnover ceremony at the Malacañan Palace.

Part of the acquisition were 30 computers, electronic gadgets and devices, which Morente said “it will go a long way in enhancing our border security and bolster our ability to prevent the entry of undesirable aliens.”

The equipment, he said, will be used by the bureau’s interpol unit.

Morente thanked the EU for extending its generous support and assistance to the BI’s efforts to acquire modern tools and equipment to boost its campaign against illegal aliens, especially in the different ports of entry nationwide.

According to Atty. Rommel Tacorda BI-Interpol Chief, the donation is part of the EU-ASEAN Migration and Border Management Programme II which the EU launched to assist the various Interpol units operating in the Southeast Asian region.

Tacorda said that this project, through the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime-Interpol National Central Bureau Manila, aims to support ASEAN in its integration process and strengthen networks and cooperation between and among law enforcement agencies in the region.

Meanwhile, BI OIC Deputy Commissioner and Port Operation Division Chief Marc Red Mariñas announced that the BI Interpol unit has been reorganized and placed under the Border Control and Intelligence Unit (BCIU) of the Port Operations Division (POD).

Mariñas disclosed that he recommended the placing of BI Interpol under the BCIU in order to “augment standard operational procedures in our international ports of entry and exit in the face of existing threats to national security and peace and order.”