In line with the directive of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos , Jr. to ensure the removal of foreign fugitives, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) deported five Japanese nationals to Tokyo on April 7.
According to BI Warden Facility Chief Velasco Felix, the deportees—Iwamoto Miyako, 34; Osawa Ayumi, 33; Norichika Harada, 48; Nobuyuki Arima, 45; and Yuya Yano, 34,—boarded on a Japan Airlines Flight bound for Tokyo on Tuesday morning via Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
The group was previously arrested by the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) headed by Rendel Ryan Sy, in coordinated operations in Bulacan and Quezon for their alleged involvement in fraud and theft activities in Japan.
Authorities identified several of them as members of a breakaway faction of the notorious “JP Dragon” syndicate, engaged in large-scale scam operations targeting victims, including the elderly.
Sy said that Japanese authorities issued warrants for their arrest for crimes involving fraud and theft, including schemes where victims were deceived into surrendering bank information and funds. The BI likewise confirmed that the fugitives were engaged in suspicious activities in the Philippines, including operating online workstations linked to scamming operations.
The names of the 5 fugitives have been included in the BI’s blacklist, effectively barring them from re-entering the country in the future.
