By Ferdinand Patinio
MANILA – Three New Zealand nationals were denied entry after being flagged by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) for alleged links to an international criminal organization.
In a news release Thursday, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado identified the passengers as Alexander Michael Schmalkuchen, Stanley Savinata Sunguturanga and Ethan Schipper, all New Zealand passport holders.
Schmalkuchen and Sunguturanga arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on Feb. 7 aboard a China Southern flight from Guangzhou. Schipper arrived on a similar flight on Feb. 9.
BI-Interpol chief Peter de Guzman said immigration officers sought verification after the three registered a hit in the Interpol system.
Confirmation later showed they were subjects of a Diffusion Notice linked to a criminal organization.
An Interpol Diffusion Notice is a direct request for cooperation or information-sharing circulated between member-countries to locate or arrest a person.
Further checks found the trio had multiple prior convictions in various countries and were identified as members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, an outlaw motorcycle gang monitored internationally for alleged organized criminal activities.
They were excluded and denied entry under the Philippine Immigration Act, which bars foreign nationals deemed a threat to public safety and national security.
Viado warned that the Philippines will not serve as a safe haven or transit point for transnational criminal groups.
“We are closely coordinating with INTERPOL and our international counterparts to ensure that individuals linked to organized crime are detected and stopped at our borders,” he said. (PNA)
