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Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Tourists told: Avoid hanky-panky spots
By Oscar C. Pineda
“DEAL only with legitimate tour guides and never visit hanky-panky places.”
Supt. Vicente Loot issued this warning after a Japanese tourist in Lapu-Lapu City was forced by shady tourist guides to buy shabu in Cebu City.
The guides even used the tourist’s room for sniffing drugs, prompting the tourist to seek help from Loot’s office.
Loot is the director of the Philippine Center for Transnational Crimes (PCTC) in Central Visayas.
Loot warned Japanese tourists not to trust fellow Japanese or half-Japanese nationals who are in the country without permanent jobs.
He cited the case of Ryohei Sato, who was allegedly kidnapped by a group led by Hiroshi Nagai, a fellow Japanese residing in Lapu-Lapu City.
Sato was killed in that incident. Nagai was also killed after having a misunderstanding with his men. Their bodies were dumped into the sea and remain missing.
Loot said another Japanese was victimized last Feb. 6 by a half-Japanese national who is into the illegal tour operation called “hupo-hupo”.
PCTC has identified the suspects. It is now coordinating with PNP Task Force Turista in tracking the suspects down.
In the latest incident, PCTC records showed that Aoki Nibuhito, 24, who deals second-hand vehicles in his hometown province in Japan, arrived in Cebu last Feb. 3. He stayed in a hotel in Lapu-Lapu City until Feb. 8.
He met the suspects in a Japanese restaurant last Feb. 4. The suspects are Filipino-Japanese Taro Fukuda and cousins Paul and Walter Colina.
Nibuhito did not know where they live because he just met them. But he became close to Fukuda who speaks Nipongo.
Then on Friday, Fukuda and the Colina cousins convinced Nibuhito to bring P60,000. They met again.
Shortly after, the three allegedly forced Nibuhito to take a cab with them. They went to Barangay Lorega-San Miguel, Cebu City where an unidentified man handed him packs of suspected shabu.
Fukuda allegedly grabbed the victim’s bag containing the money and gave it to the man.
They took a cab again and went to a motel on Gen. Maxilom Ave. Ext. in Cebu City where they stayed in a room for about 30 minutes. The three allegedly threatened him not to tell anyone what happened or he would not be able to return to Japan.
Then they brought Nibuhito to his hotel in Lapu-Lapu City and sniffed shabu inside his room. The three forced Nibuhito to join them. Then the three left and told Nibuhito they will be back.
(February 11, 2004 issue)
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