Foreign fugitives intercepted at NAIA

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has recently apprehended two foreign nationals listed on Interpol’s wanted fugitives list at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

According to BI commissioner Atty. Joel Anthony Viado, the Chinese and Korean nationals were arrested separately at NAIA Terminal 3 while attempting to board flights to Malaysia and South Korea, respectively.

The Korean passenger, identified as Li Su Bin, was initially allowed to board his flight but was arrested upon arrival in Seoul by Korean authorities. Li is wanted in connection with an investment scam involving a Laos-based organization that lured victims into investing in cryptocurrencies and stocks.

On the other hand, the Chinese passenger — identified as Yao Bin — was offloaded from his Malaysia-bound flight and detained at the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, pending deportation proceedings.

Yao is believed to be part of a cybercrime group that operated illegal online gambling websites, attracting over 260,000 Chinese users and generating billions of yuan in illicit revenue.

In a separate incident on 14 November, BI officers intercepted a 20-year-old Filipina passenger at NAIA Terminal 3. The woman, whose name is withheld, was attempting to depart for Nagoya, Japan, using a fake Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) certificate.

The BI-CFO joint system, which enables real-time verification of document authenticity, detected the fraudulent certificate. The woman is now under investigation by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.

Viado stressed the importance of the BI-CFO joint system in combating human trafficking and other transnational crimes.