MANILA — Immigration officers foiled another alleged human smuggling operation as they intercepted three foreigners at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals 2 and 3 on Wednesday.
Bureau of Immigration (BI) Port Operations Division chief Marc Red Mariñas said those arrested were a Cameroonian and two Bangladeshi nationals who were about to leave the country.
The Cameroonian was identified as Njang Simon Egbe, was reportedly caught attempting to leave NAIA 3 with a tampered French passport which he used in entering the country in November last year.
The foreigner’s trick did not work this time as the immigration officer who examined his passport noticed alterations in the bio-page of the document which was later confirmed as counterfeit by BI anti-fraud specialists.
BI officials suspect that Egbe, who was bound for Bangkok, would later use the passport in gaining illegal entry to France.
The two Bangladeshis identified as Sayedul Haque Bhuiyan and Md Sakhaowat Hossain Sohag, were about to depart for Toronto, Canada when they were intercepted at the NAIA 2 terminal.
Verification with the Canadian embassy revealed that while their electronic travel authority (ETA) to Canada which they presented were genuine, it was fraudulently obtained due to misrepresentation.
The embassy added that the Bangladeshis could not possibly enter Toronto as they did not have visas to enter the country.
“These passengers were clients of an international human smuggling syndicate that manufactures and sells fraudulent and counterfeit travel documents,” Mariñas said in a statement.
They are now detained at the BI detention facility in Taguig City pending deportation proceedings. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
