MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has launched an intensive nationwide manhunt for two South Korean fugitives, with enforcement units mobilized to locate and apprehend them.
In a statement Friday, BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado identified the fugitives as Lee Jingyu, 32, and Yang Heejun, 44, both foreign nationals facing deportation cases with the agency.
He noted that the bureau is working closely with law enforcement agencies to track the fugitives’ possible movements and ensure their swift recapture.
According to reports, the custodial force team at the BI Warden’s Facility (BIWF) in Muntinlupa City, during a routine inspection on Jan. 1, discovered a rope tied at the rear portion of a ward gate.
A subsequent headcount and inspection of all wards showed that Lee and Yang were unaccounted for. This prompted security personnel to immediately place the facility in total lockdown, while a thorough search of all the perimeter sections was conducted.
Lee was arrested by the BI Fugitive Search Unit in Pasay City on Nov. 17, 2025. He has a red notice from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) for drug smuggling.
Lee allegedly orchestrated the trafficking of approximately 3 kg. of methamphetamine through multiple incidents in early 2024 and has prior criminal convictions, including aggravated assault. He was charged by the BI for being an undesirable and overstaying alien.
Yang, on the other hand, was arrested by BI operatives in Angeles City, Pampanga in 2022. He is wanted in his country for burglary, theft, and related offenses, and is likewise the subject of an Interpol red notice.
He has a deportation case for being an undesirable and undocumented alien and was detained at the BIWF pending the completion of legal proceedings. Yang was also earlier implicated in an attempted drug smuggling incident inside the detention facility in 2022.
The BI reiterated that both fugitives pose a serious risk to public safety and assured the public that efforts to locate and apprehend them are ongoing and intensified.
“We have sought the assistance of the Bureau of Corrections, where the BIWF is located, and the National Bureau of Investigation so we may be able to trace areas where the duo could have taken,” Viado said.
“We will not stop until they have been located so they can be made to face their crimes."
The BI chief also urged the public to report sightings of the duo via their hotline at +633 8 465 2400 or their Facebook Messenger at facebook.com/officialbureauofimmigration. (PNA)