BI agents, interpreter arrested for extortion

Police have arrested members of a syndicate, including two intelligence agents of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), that had allegedly preyed on suspected illegal aliens in an attempt to extort money from them.

Senior Superintendent Prudencio Tom Banas of the Presidential Anti-Crime Emergency Reaction team (PACER) said they are now hunting down two more syndicate members following the arrest of five people in Manila.

Banas and Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil presented the five suspects during a press conference at Camp Crame yesterday.

They were identified as Arsenio Cantada, 40, Amado Talatala, 39, both intelligence agents of the BI; Roberspierre Caparas, 34, Mario Mejico, 50, a BI utility worker, and Linda Ong, 46, their interpreter.

A manhunt is underway to arrest their accomplices, identified as Nasser Hadjiwahid and Andman Mangundato.

Banas said the five suspects were arrested during an entrapment operation last Monday near the BI main office in Intramuros, Manila.

He noted the entrapment operation stemmed from the complaint of Taiwanese Yolma Chung, who said her two relatives Chen Uro Yun, 50, and Chen Rong Yun, 55, were picked up by immigration agents. The two were accused of being undocumented and overstaying aliens.

Police said the Taiwanese nationals had been collared by the two immigration agents in Subic, Zambales.

Instead of filing charges or having them deported to Taiwan, the arresting officers demanded cash for their release.

After a series of negotiations, the amount was settled at P300,000 to be delivered by Chung at a fastfood restaurant near the BI main office in Intramuros, where the Taiwanese nationals were detained.

Just before the pay-off, Cheng Rong Yun was rescued by police inside a blue Mitsubishi Pajero (XET-766). The suspects were later arrested by the suspects.

After getting word of the arrest, the other members of the syndicate released Chen Uro Yun near a bus terminal in Pasay City a few hours later.

Police recovered from the suspects three guns, two vehicles, fake IDs and five mobile phones.

Cantada maintained that the operation against the Taiwanese national was legitimate as he has a mission order from the bureau to arrest the foreigners. He noted that the Taiwanese nationals were fugitives from Taiwan.

Banas noted that they would be coordinating with the BI and Taiwanese Embassy to determine the status of the Taiwanese nationals.