BI agents nabbed 80 foreigners in 168 Mall

MANILA, Philippines - Operatives of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) have arrested 80 foreigners for operating their businesses without the necessary government permits in Manila, an official said on Thursday.

BI chief Siegfred Mison said the bureau agents nabbed the foreign businessmen operating retail trade without proper working permits inside the  168 mall in Divisoria in Manila.

Based on immigration laws, foreigner who do not have the permit to do business or has no working permit must secure these permits from the government before they can do retail trade in the Philippines.

"The operations in 168 mall has been planned a long time ago, approved and covered by a mission order. It was preceded by extensive casing of the area and intelligence gathering using all available sources of information," Mison said.

During the raid of the stalls at the mall,  team members apprised the arrested foreign nationals of their rights.

Those found without proper documents and those with criminal charges were immediately arrested. 

The foreigners were brought to the field command post for temporary custody. They were then brought to the BI office for further investigation and verification.