BY JUN RAMIREZ
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is set to deport an American fugitive wanted by authorities in California for assault and possession of deadly weapon.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said 45-year-old Peter Alex Drier was arrested last Wednesday in Laurel, Batangas by joint operatives from the BI’s fugitve search unit (FSU) and Batangas police.
Morente said he issued the mission order for Drier’s arrest at the request of the US embassy in Manila which informed the BI that the fugitive’s passport was already cancelled.
“He will be deported for posing risk to public safety and security due to his profile as a fugitive from justice who used the Philippines as a refuge to evade prosecution for crimes he committed in his country,” the BI chief added.
The US embassy disclosed that Drier has an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the police department in San Diego, California for failure to appear and answer an underlying charge of Assault with a deadly weapon.
It was further learned that Drier was twice arrested last year on charges of Crimes Against Person and Simple Assault by the San Diego police.
He was turned over to the temporary custody of the Batangas provincial police pending the conduct result of his COVID-19 swab test.(Jun Ramirez)
