Two days after his arrest, a Japanese national facing charges for human trafficking committed suicide while in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation, the agency said Thursday.
NBI Director Virgilio Mendez said he was still withholding the name of the detainee at the request of the Japanese embassy.
“The embassy wants to verify if the name that appeared on the passport of the deceased was really the name of the suspect,” Mendez told the Inquirer.
The foreign national was arrested in Taguig City on Tuesday for alleged human trafficking. He allegedly ran a prostitution and child pornography racket.
Citing a report of the bureau’s antihuman trafficking division, Mendez said the Japanese used the cord of an exhaust fan to commit suicide inside his detention quarters.
He was found dead by NBI agents around 3 a.m. Thursday and was brought to the Philippine General Hospital for an autopsy.