Wanted Japanese linked to online fraud nabbed

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Philippines — A Japanese fugitive linked to a group engaged in online scamming was arrested in San Pablo, Laguna on Monday night.

The suspect, identified as Sasaki Takashi, 44, was collared in Barangay Soledad by a joint team of the police and agents of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

The arrest was based on a warrant of deportation issued in March 2023, according to Col. Ricardo Dalmacia, Laguna police director.

In February 2023, Japanese consul Makino Hideki asked the local police and the BI to help arrest Takashi, whom he described as an undesirable alien and a fugitive.

Hideke informed local authorities that the Tokyo Summary Court had issued an arrest warrant for Takashi for theft.

The Japan police informed local authorities that the suspect is a member of a syndicate called the Luffy group, which is engaged in online fraud and extortion activities in the Philippines.

The suspect and his cohorts reportedly posed as law enforcers or employees of the finance bureau in order to steal ATM cards from their victims. — Evelyn Macairan