THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday announced that South Koreans topped its list of foreign fugitives from justice that its agents have so far arrested during the first semester of the year.
In a report to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU) said it has arrested a total of 28 foreign fugitives from January to June of this year.
The figure is lower compared to the 32 wanted foreigners who were nabbed in the country during the same period last year when the pandemic broke out.
“While admittedly we had much difficulty as our field operatives face exposure to virus, our officers remain steadfast in their duty to cleanse the country of these unwanted aliens,” Morente said.
BI FSU Chief Rendel Sy said most of the fugitives arrested were already deported and are now serving sentences for their crimes.
They have also been banned from reentering the country.
Aside from 19 South Koreans, other foreign fugitives arrested were four Americans, a Japanese, a French, an Italian, a Polish, and a Bahraini national.
Among the high profile fugitives who were captured was Frenchman Julien Barbier, who is wanted for narcotics trafficking; American John Dalton Daclan, who is wanted for a string of cases such as robbery, burglary, fraud, and battery; and Italian Antonello Ivaldi, a sex offender and alleged pedophile.
In 2019, the BI recorded the most number of arrested fugitives totaling to 425, most of whom were Chinese nationals involved in illegal online gaming and telecom fraud operations.
The BI arrested 260 alien fugitives in 2018, 116 of them were Chinese mostly wanted for telecom fraud and cybercrimes.