
THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) said its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have foiled an attempt by two Chinese fugitives to flee the country.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the two aliens were intercepted and arrested in separate occasions last June 1 by immigration officers at the NAIA terminal 1 after they attempted to depart the country.
“They are now detained at our detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City where they will remain until they are deported,” Tansingco said.
The BI chief commended the BI supervisors and inspectors who intercepted the passengers for their vigilance in preventing the flight of the wanted fugitives.
Tansingco bared that one of the Chinese nationals is wanted for extortion in China while the other one has a pending criminal case before a local court and a deportation case with the BI.
The man wanted in China was identified as Jun Zhang, 36, who was arrested while attempting to board a flight to Bangkok and passing himself as a citizen of Myanmar.
He presented to the officer at the BI counter a Myanmar passport under the name Lu Kyin Yang.
“We received advanced information from the Chinese government that he is a fugitive in China and that he would be using that Myanmar passport to evade detection,” Tansingco said.
He reportedly arrived in April, before the Chinese authorities filed the information on his crimes with the BI.
The other arrested passenger is a Chinese woman named Tianyi Zhang, 28, who tried to flee via a flight to Xiamen.
Records show that Zhang was issued a deportation order by the BI for being an undocumented and undesirable alien for allegedly working for an establishment involved in prostitution and labor exploitation.
She and two other Chinese suspects also face a case before the Makati City regional trial court for the said crime.
She and her co-accused were issued a hold departure order by the court to prevent them from leaving while their cases are still under trial.