BI thwarts attempt to smuggle Chinese to Canada
abs-cbnNEWS.com
03/03/2010 3:52 PM
MANILA, Philippines Government authorities foiled an attempt by an international human trafficking syndicate to smuggle illegal aliens to Canada using Manila as transit point.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said the syndicates suspected courier Joana Lee May Lin, a Singaporean, and 2 of her victims, identified as Lim Chee Siong and Jimmy Ong Lai Heng, both Chinese nationals, were apprehended on Monday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
This showed that our agency is capable of defeating any attempts by human trafficking syndicates to use the Philippines as their transit point in transporting illegal people, BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said in a statement.
Reports said the 3 passengers were intercepted at the NAIA Terminal 2 before they could board a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Vancouver, Canada last March 1.
Lim and Ong were nabbed for using fraudulent Singaporean passports in leaving the country.
They arrived in Manila using their original Chinese passports but upon arriving here the syndicates gave them the Singaporean passports which they would present in leaving the country and in gaining illegal entry to Canada, BI Associate Commissioner Enrique Galang said.
Galang said the Chinese nationals were enticed by the syndicate to make the trip as they intended to work in Canada. The 3 foreigners were accosted by members of the BI-Monitoring Compliance and Migration Group (MCMG) at the airport after they were became suspicious of Lee who always acted as interpreter for her companions.
Lim and Ong, both from Fujian, China, admitted that they each paid the syndicate US$ 20,000 and US$ 30,000, respectively, for facilitating their aborted trip to Canada.
Their Singaporean passports later turned out to be tampered and spurious after these were examined by members of the BI anti-fraud division.
