128 foreign fugitives fall in 2023 — BI

More than 100 foreign nationals, all wanted back in their home countries for various criminal activities, were arrested in 2023, the Bureau of Immigration announced on Sunday.

Citing a report from the BI Fugitive Search Unit, Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the foreign fugitives were apprehended in separate operations across the country where the wanted foreigners were hiding or had lodged since entering the country.

Most of the arrested fugitives have already been deported and are serving prison sentences in their native countries after being found guilty of the crimes.

Lauding the BI-FSU for its accomplishments, Tansingco said 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.

“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,” he said.

The BI-FSU also reported that 39 South Koreans account for most of the arrested fugitives, followed by 25 Chinese nationals, 15 Vietnamese, 12 Taiwanese, 11 Americans and 8 Japanese.

Other fugitives have committed financial crimes, scams involving investments, illegal gaming, money laundering, fraud in the telecommunications sector, robberies 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 were Risa Yamada, Fujita Kairi and Sato Shohei, who were rounded up in January, March and April for their affiliation with the infamous “Luffy” syndicate.

All of them were already included in the immigration blacklist of undesirable aliens thus, perpetually barred from re-entering the country.