BI set to deport Korean, Taiwanese nationals ‘involved’ in illegal drug trade

SOUTH Korean and Taiwanese nationals who are facing charges in their home countries for their alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade were caught by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU).

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is set to deport the two foreign nationals as they have pending criminal cases in their native countries.

The 44-year-old South Korean, Choi Sung-eun, was arrested on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022 in his hotel room in Barangay Tramo in Pasay City, while the 26-year-old Taiwanese, Tsai Tsung-yu, was caught in Tambo, Parañaque City, the BI said in its press release.

The FSU said Choi was arrested on the strength of a warrant of deportation that BI Commissioner Jaime Morente had issued. A deportation order was issued against the Korean by the BI Board of Commissioners in 2019 for being an “undesirable alien.”

Choi has also been tagged as an undocumented alien due to the cancellation of his passport by the South Korean government, the BI said.

FSU Acting Chief Rendel Ryan Sy said Choi is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by a district court in South Korea, where he is facing a criminal case for allegedly trading psychotropic substances in violation of his country’s narcotics control law.

Social media-savvy

The Korean was accused of using the social media sites to solicit buyers of illegal drugs, and for receiving money from clients by instructing them to deposit the payments into his bank accounts, Sy said.

Choi’s racket was exposed when a police officer posed as a customer, and picked up the illegal drugs from places where he had hidden them, the BI report said.

The BI records also show that Choi has been hiding in the Philippines since May 2017 when he arrived as a tourist, and he has not left the country since then.

As for Tsai, the BI said the foreigner who also uses the alias Cai Zong-you, is a fugitive wanted in his native Taiwan.

The Immigration Bureau arrested him pursuant to a mission order that had been issued against him.

Taiwanese authorities informed the BI that Tsai has an outstanding warrant of arrest issued by the Taiwan New Taipei District Prosecutors Office for drug trafficking, a violation of Taiwan’s laws on narcotics hazards prevention.

Tsai is also an overstaying alien in the Philippines whose visa expired more than a year ago, the BI database shows.

Both Choi and Tsai are detained at the bureau’s holding facility in Bicutan, Taguig City pending their deportation.

They will also be placed in the Immigration blacklist, which will perpetually ban them from reentering the Philippines, the BI said.