Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents apprehended a Belgian model wanted for heinous crimes.
Kristof Debie, 38, was taken into custody on October 17 at a hotel in Parañaque City. He is said to have worked as a model and a bartender, but was actually part of a criminal organization involved in narcotics.
BI fugitive search unit (FSU) Chief Rendel Ryan Sy reported that Debie was tagged as an undesirable alien after the agency received information regarding the latter’s criminal activities.
He is the subject of an interpol red notice issued in March of this year, requesting countries to locate and arrest him.
A European arrest warrant was issued against him by the Court of First Instance of East Flanders, Ghent Section in Belgium, for multiple grave offenses, including the torture of minors, participation in a criminal organization, and serious drug-related charges in violation of the Belgian Penal Code.
Reports from foreign news outlets have detailed the heinous nature of his crimes, including an incident where he severed the ear of a 17-year-old boy after losing a stash of cocaine.
Belgian fugitive apprehended by BI model by day, gangster by night
Debie is in the custody of the BI, detained at the facility in Bicutan, Taguig, pending his deportation.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco reiterated that fugitives are not welcome in the country. “Fugitives are not welcome in the Philippines,” said Tansingco. “We are committed to upholding the law. We will not allow our country to be a safe haven for those who seek to escape justice,” he added.
Meanwhile, attempts by alien sex offenders to enter the country continue as the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported that its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) intercepted and turned back two Americans previously convicted of various sex crimes in the United States (US).
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified the first passenger as Eric Blair Smith, 57, who arrived at the NAIA Terminal 1 last Thursday via a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight from Los Angeles, California.
Smith, according to Tansingco, is a registered sex offender (RSO) in California where he was charged and convicted for sexual offenses on several occasions in 1986 and 2013.
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