By Ferdinand Patinio
MANILA – Immigration authorities intercepted two Chinese fugitives who attempted to flee the country for Malaysia at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City.
In a statement Thursday, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado disclosed that the foreigners were intercepted on different occasions at the immigration departure area before they could board their flights bound for Kuala Lumpur.
He said the passengers were immediately arrested after BI officers found that they are subjects of watchlist orders issued by the bureau for being undesirable aliens due to criminal cases filed against them in China.
Both will be deported after deportation orders are issued against them by the BI board of commissioners.
They were later committed to the BI custodial facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.
Records showed that one of the passengers, Huang Xianjun, 37, who attempted to depart on Feb. 15, is subject of an International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) red notice published on Nov. 8, 2024, after a warrant for his arrest was issued by the municipal public security bureau in Changzhou, China.
The warrant stemmed from a case of telecommunication fraud that was filed against him based on allegations that he was a member of a syndicate that profited from fraudulent online investment platforms.
Syndicate members allegedly employed love scams to induce the victims to invest their money in the said platforms.
The other passenger, Li Xiao Long, 23, who was stopped last Feb. 16, is also a fugitive wanted by the Hechuan public security bureau in Chongqing, China which issued a detention warrant against him on March 9, 2023 for his alleged involvement in economic crimes.
He was also found to have previously worked for an offshore gaming company in Manila which resulted in the cancellation of his working visa by the BI and his inclusion in the bureau’s blacklist. (PNA)
