The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has detained and lined up for deportation three foreigners arrested last week at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for using fake documents.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the aliens will undergo deportation proceedings for possessing spurious travel papers which they presented to immigration officers at the airport.
The three passengers are just the latest addition to the list of foreigners arrested in recent weeks at the NAIA with counterfeit documents, using Manila as transshipment point to travel to their final destination like the United States and Canada.
“We are alarmed by what appears to be a proliferation in the use of fraudulent travel documents by foreigners who attempt to enter or exit our country,” the BI chief said.
He instructed BI-NAIA personnel “to double their vigilance to put a stop to these individuals attempting to travel illegally.”
BI Deputy Commissioner and Port Operations Division (POD) chief Marc Red Mariñas identified those arrested as Moustapha Harry Dicko, a Mali national; Gabriel Martinez Mendoza, a Mexican; and Joynul Islam, a Bangladeshi.
Mariñas said all three passengers were immediately brought to BI jail in Taguig City after they were intercepted on separate occasions at the NAIA last week.
“They will soon be deported and later placed in our blacklist so they won’t be able to re-enter the Philippines,” he added. (Jun Ramirez)
