Japanese Hideto Ozawa wanted for car thefts deported

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday said it had deported a Japanese fugitive wanted by authorities in his country for carjacking.

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. identified the deportee as 34-year-old Hideto Ozawa, who was flown back to Tokyo on Wednesday.

David, in a statement, said Ozawa was deported after being detained for more than a month at the BI detention center in Bicutan, Taguig City. Ozawa allegedly hid in the Philippines for more than five years to evade prosecution for his crimes.

Immigration intelligence chief Ma. Antonette Bucasas-Mangrobang disclosed that a team of Japanese policemen fetched Ozawa in Manila and escorted him in his trip to Tokyo.

Mangrobang said Ozawa had been detained at the Bicutan jail since Aug. 3 when Immigration agents picked him up at the Japanese Embassy in Pasay City. Embassy officials informed BI officials that Ozawa turned himself in and expressed his desire to return to Japan.