The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has confirmed the deportation of 75 foreign nationals last September 22.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco shared that the 75 foreign nationals, made up of Chinese nationals, departed via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1, afternoon of Friday on board a Royal Air flight to Nanning, Guangxi.
The deportees are the first batch of foreign nationals expelled from the country after their alleged involvement in scamming activities in the guise of an online gaming customer relations service provider.
Said foreigners are part of the group arrested in an operation led by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) against SA Rivendell Global Gaming Corporation located in Pasay City. They were later charged by the BI for undesirability after being tagged as part of a scamming syndicate.
As the arresting agency, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) retained custody of the said aliens during their deportation proceedings.
The deportees were reportedly involved in love scams and cryptocurrency scams, targeting Westerners.
Initially 76, one of the deportees, identified as He Zeng Ming was offloaded by the airline due to his medical condition after allegedly experiencing chest pains.
75 foreign nationals involved in online scams deported – BI
As a consequence of the deportation, all deportees have been included in the BI’s blacklist, effectively barring them from returning to the Philippines.
The BI says that it expects to deport more than 70 other foreign nationals connected to the scam.
“The strong partnership of the BI with PAOCC as well as IACAT member agencies led to this massive arrest and deportation of foreign nationals abusing their stay in the country,” said Tansingco. “This is in line with the President’s directive for government agencies to work closely together, in unity, to achieve greater results,” he added.
Last week, a Chinese man was arrested by Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers last september 18 after being found to be facing charges in China for illegal gambling.
The suspect, identified as Jiang Ning, 27, was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino international Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1.
He attempted to depart on board a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when immigration officers noted a derogatory record in their system issued against him.
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