South Koreans top list of foreign fugitives nabbed in Philippines in 2023

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) arrested a total of 128 foreign fugitives last year, with South Koreans making up the largest group. 

In a release Sunday, BI said its fugitive search unit (FSU) arrested a total of 39 South Koreans in 2023, followed by 25 Chinese nationals, 15 Vietnamese, 12 Taiwanese, 11 Americans and eight Japanese. 

Offenses committed by the foreign fugitives include involvement in economic crimes, investment scams, illegal gambling, money laundering, telecommunications fraud, robbery, and smuggling. 

“Our country is off limits to these foreign fugitives,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said. 

“They are not welcome here and there will be no letup in our campaign to hunt and deport them so they could be tried for the criminal cases that were filed against them,” he added. 

The foreign fugitives were apprehended in various operations conducted by FSU agents in areas where they had been hiding or residing since arriving in the Philippines. 

According to BI, a notable arrest was that of Manpreet Singh and his cohorts, who were tagged as members of extremist group Khalistan Tiger Force in India. 

Also apprehended in 2023 were Risa Yamada, Fujita Kairi and Sato Shohei, who were affiliated with the “Luffy” syndicate. The criminals were behind a spate of robberies and telephone fraud cases across Japan. — Gaea Katreena Cabico