FOUR Japanese wanted by Tokyo have been apprehended in Paranaque City and at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Bureau of Immigration said yesterday.
Operatives of the BI’s fugitive search unit headed by Rendel Ryan Sy said Ueda Koji, 27; Kiyohara Jun, 29; and Suzuki Seiji, 29; were apprehended in a subdivision in Paranaque City under a mission order issued by Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco on information received from the Japanese government.
Japanese authorities said the three have outstanding arrest warrants since May 2024 issued by the Omiya Summary Court for telecommunications fraud in violation of the Japanese penal code.
Sy also reported the arrest of Sawada Masaya, 39, at the NAIA Terminal 3. Sawada is also alleged to be a member of a telecom fraud syndicate based in Cambodia.
Masaya was nabbed shortly after arriving at the airport on board a Cebu Pacific flight from Cebu.
“Subject individuals were believed to be involved and members of Telecom fraud syndicate based in Cambodia with criminal charges for extortion and fraud,” an NCRPO report said.
All four are detained at the BI warden’s facility in Bicutan, Taguig City pending their deportation to Tokyo.
The BI said it deported a Japanese, Aoi Ikeda, who was arrested last January 15 at the NAIA Terminal 3.
Ikeda was deported last June 26 to Osaka for violation of immigration law.
“As a consequence of his deportation, Ikeda’s name was included in the BI’s blacklist, effectively barring him from reentering the Philippines,” Tansingco said. — With Victor Reyes
