Suspected gang member in fake passports scam nabbed in Binondo

Immigration personnel and police operatives arrested in Binondo, Manila on Tuesday a suspected member of a gang making and selling fake Philippine passports to foreigners, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.

 

According to a news release posted on the BI website on Thursday, the suspect, Arsenio Ortega, was arrested in a sting operation in Binondo on July 10.

 

The BI said Afghan Ahmady Mokhtar (a.k.a. Faisal Abdullatif), who said Ortega sold him a fake Philippine passport, helped in the joint operation of the BI with the Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.  

The items seized from Ortega included several fake documents, ID cards, mobile phones, a handheld radio, and a blue book where he allegedly recorded his business transactions.

 

BI commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said Mokhtar, despite his help, will still face deportation proceedings for illegally entering the country by using a fake passport. Ortega is now detained at the CIDG headquarters in Camp Crame, while Mokhtar was brought to the BI jail in Bicutan, Taguig.

 

The investigation showed that Mokhtar was apprehended in Macau after he was caught using a fake Philippine passport under the assumed name "Dennis Lee."

 

Mokhtar claimed that a certain Marcelo gave him the passport that he used to travel from Manila to Malaysia on July 4.

 

Mokhtar tried to travel from Manila to Macau on July 6 but was arrested upon arriving there and was deported to Manila three days later.  - VVP, GMA News