2 American fugitives detained in Taguig

MANILA –- Two American fugitives who went hiding in the Philippines are now finally under government custody and awaiting deportation, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. identified the fugitives as Lucretia Beth Brown, 45, and Andrea Jaine London, 51, who are now detained at the BI jail in Bicutan, Taguig City.

David said both women will be deported to the United States where they are wanted to stand trial before a district court in eastern Texas, which earlier issued the warrants for their arrest.

Brown and London are wanted on a string of criminal fraud charges in the US. They allegedly defrauded their previous employer, an American gun store, before fleeing to the Philippines.

They were charged for allegedly conspiring to conceal records, make false statements and not report multiple sales of the company where they had previously worked.

Their alleged offenses also include their "failure to maintain records of receipt and disposition of firearms."

Lawyer Ma. Antonette Mangrobang, BI acting intelligence chief, said the two fugitives arrived together at the Mactan airport in Cebu on February 6 and were admitted as tourists on a 21-day no visa privilege.

The fugitives, who reportedly wanted to live in isolation, were arrested on October 9 in their apparent hideout in Cebu - a house located in a newly-built mountaintop subdivision, which is sparsely populated and far from the city.

Mangrobang said both women are also undocumented aliens since their US passports were already revoked by the American government. (Emmanuel Louis Bacani/Sunnex)