American ‘fugitive’ caught at NAIA

An American fugitive trying to evade United States authorities after being convicted of theft was intercepted by Bureau of Immigration (BI) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport recently.

In a report to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, BI OIC Deputy Commissioner and Port Operations Division Chief Marc Red Mariñas identified the fugitive as Kenneth Collins Dunn, 39.

Dunn is said to be wanted in Oregon for violating his parole which he obtained after being convicted of burglary.

The US Embassy asked for assistance in intercepting Dunn, who attempted to escape despite being issued an order by US authorities to proceed directly to the United States.

The US Embassy reportedly requested to be notified of any attempt of Dunn to travel outside the Philippines.

According to Mariñas, Dunn arrived as a transit passenger from Bangkok, but was scheduled to fly immediately to the US upon landing.

However, he was a no-show at the NAIA 2 terminal for his scheduled flight to Los Angeles but on the same day he was intercepted at the NAIA 3 terminal when he tried to board Air Nippon Airways (ANA) flight to Narita, Japan.

It was learned that Dunn used a Belizean passport under the name of Kelsey Brian Dunn when he tried to board Narita-bound flight. Checks made by the immigration showed he was the person of interest in the US Embassy’s alert.

The immigration report also revealed that the American opted to use a Belizean passport and allegedly threw his US passport so he could escape from American authorities and leave Manila undetected.

Mariñas said they have strong coordination with their foreign counterparts, thus any attempt to use the country as a transit point to escape from justice will definitely be thwarted.

The capture paved the way for the US Embassy to issue Dunn his travel documents a week later.

Dunn left the country via Philippine Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles.