A Japanese suspected to be a member of the notorious “Luffy” gang that has been linked to numerous theft and fraud cases in that country was deported by the Bureau of Immigration yesterday.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Takayuki Kagoshima, 54, and a team of Japanese police escorts boarded a Japan Airlines flight to Narita, Tokyo which left the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 10 a.m.
Tansingco said Kagoshima is the seventh suspected member of the “Luffy” gang to be deported by the agency since the presence in the country of the fugitives was reported to the BI by their Japanese counterparts.
Six other alleged gang members were deported last February and March pursuant to a summary deportation order issued against them by the BI board of commissioners last October.
BI records showed that Kagoshima was arrested in Pasay City last March 4 by operatives from the BI fugitive search unit.
“There will be no letup in our campaign to hunt and deport all foreign fugitives who are hiding in the country. We cannot allow the Philippines to become a refuge for these wanted criminals,” Tansingco said.
Kagoshima is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by a court in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan where he has been charged with theft.
He has been on the BI’s wanted list since October 2023 when a summary deportation order was issued against him and eight other alleged members by the bureau’s board of commissioners for being undesirable aliens.
Tansingco said Kagoshima arrived in the Philippines on November 7, 2022 and never left.
Aside from his alleged membership in the Luffy gang, Tansingco said Japanese authorities also claimed that Kagoshima is also a member of the “JP Dragon” syndicate that plotted to steal cash cards from victims by pretending they are police officers.
Four Luffy gang members were also deported from Manila to Tokyo last year.
The four were wanted by Japanese authorities for allegedly being behind robbery cases and other illegal activities in Japan.
“Luffy” was the alias used by Yuki Watanabe, one of the four Japanese deported last year.
