BI deports 49 South Korean fugitives

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) deported 49 South Korean fugitives on Wednesday morning.

The Koreans were arrested in several operations nationwide, with most of them wanted for charges related to financial crimes like illegal gambling and online scamming, according to a Super Radyo dzBB report by Luisito Santos.

The 49 fugitives were brought from the Immigration Warden Facility around 9 a.m. and were set to board a chartered plane back to South Korea, where they will be tried for their crimes.

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said that the current batch was the biggest simultaneous deportation since 2017 and that another batch of South Koreans will be deported in the following week.

According to Dano Tingcungco’s “24 Oras” report, South Korean Ambassador Lee Sang Hwa said once the fugitives arrive in their country, "they will go through procedure to face justice."

"They have this notion; we will disprove that notion na madaling magtago dito sa Pilipinas (we will disprove the notion that it’s easy to hide in the Philippines),” Viado said.

“They know they are being investigated; they fly to the Philippines,” BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval added.

Meanwhile, the BI is investigating whether the charges filed against two other South Korean fugitives in the Philippines are legitimate.

The agency is looking into the possibility that the charges are part of the “Demanda Me” modus to avoid deportation. —Jiselle Anne Casucian and Mariel Celine Serquiña/VAL/VBL, GMA Integrated News