BI arrests alleged ‘Luffy’ gang member in Makati

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday announced that it had arrested one more alleged Luffy group member who was wanted in Japan for theft and robbery.

In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) arrested 26-year-old Nagaura Hiroki in Makati City during the weekend.

Tansingco said that Hiroki would be deported to Tokyo as he was expelled in 2022 when an order for his summary deportation was issued.

“He was already placed in our immigration blacklist of undesirable aliens,  thus he is perpetually barred from reentering the Philippines,” Tansingco said.

BI-FSU acting chief Rendel Ryan Sy said Hiroki arrived in the Philippines in November 2019. The BI was informed of his case in Japan in 2022.

He is accused of conspiring with others to rob a home by impersonating a police officer who is investigating a stolen ATM card, according to the BI.

“Further, he is being investigated by the Japanese authorities for his involvement in alleged telecommunications fraud activities,” Sy said.

Hiroki was detained at the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

The Luffy group made news in early 2023 after Japan formally asked the Philippine government to deport four of its citizens suspected of directing a series of robberies there while detained in the Philippines.

The government previously deported Yuki Watanabe, pointed to as the mastermind “Luffy” by the Japanese police, Tomonobu Saito, Toshiya Fujita, and Kiyoto Imamura. — DVM, GMA Integrated News