2 Malaysians linked to human trafficking deported
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/15/2008 2:25 PM
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Two Malaysians arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) three months ago have been deported for involvement in human trafficking, the Bureau of Immigration said Monday.
Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said Balagobal Kannataasan, 26, and Harisan Amirtham, 34, were deported last September 11 aboard a Malaysian Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur.
Libanan said the Malaysians were expelled pursuant to a summary deportation order that the BI board of commissioners issued against them last August 26.
“The swift and decisive action of our board in immediately ordering the deportation of these foreigners demonstrates our serious resolve to intensify the campaign against human trafficking in our ports,” he said.
He said the Malaysians were also placed in the bureau’s blacklist of undesirable aliens.
Atty. Floro Balato Jr., BI spokesman, said the two foreigners were about to board a Qantas Airlines flight to Vancouver, Canada last May 2 when they were intercepted by members of the BI’s migration compliance and monitoring group at the airport’s departure area.
Balato said the passengers’ Malaysian passports were fraudulently altered and had fake immigration arrival stamps to make it appear that they arrived in the country last April 13 aboard a Malaysian Airways flight.
“A check of the airline’s manifest on the said date showed that they were not on the said flight and there is no record of their arrival in the country,” Balato added.
Balato suspects that human trafficking syndicates are using Manila as a transit point for smuggling illegal aliens to the US and Canada.
