Chinese mafia members nabbed in Palawan

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported the arrest of four Chinese nationals who are thought to be responsible for the widespread distribution of forged Philippine government-issued identification cards and documents.

BI Intelligence Division chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. identified the four Chinese men as Wang Tao, Li Xiaoming, Guo Zhi Yang, and Lyu Zhiyang, who were arrested on 19 March in Barangay San Pedro, Palawan City.

Manahan said that the operation was conducted in coordination with the Naval Forces West, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency 4B and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Under the alias Ken Garcia Lee, Lyu was allegedly the mastermind of the operation and earned notoriety in the local community after being identified as a leader of the fraud mafia in Palawan.

According to reports, he headed a local syndicate that provided unwanted foreigners and victims of human trafficking with documents obtained illegally from the government.

During the operation, several documents issued by the Philippine government, including driver’s licenses, postal IDs and birth certificates, were discovered and taken from foreign nationals.

“The arresting team of the operation has been working on the case for several months and has kept close coordination with intelligence forces and law enforcement agents to ensure the smooth arrest of the subjects,” Manahan said.