BI intercepts 3 foreign nationals using fake passports

Bureau of Immigration. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ ALEXIS CORPUZ

MANILA, Philippines — Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) intercepted three foreign nationals who attempted to leave the country using fake passports and visa.

Grifton Medina, port operations division chief, said on Thursday that the three foreign nationals were intercepted at the Naia terminal 2 on June 28 and 29.

The foreigners were identified as Palestinian couple Yousef Hilles and Nour Muamar, and Senegalese passenger Fallou Thiam.

According to Medina, Hilles and Muamar were intercepted Tuesday evening while attempting to board a flight bound for Malaysia.

The couple, Medina said, were using fake United Arab Emirates passports with spurious Philippine immigration arrival and departure stamps. Both Hilles and Muamar admitted to have allegedly acquired their fake UAE passports for an amount of US$10,000.

They also just arrived from Fiji where they stayed for 20 days but were prevented from boarding their flight going to New Zealand where they intended to stay for good.

Thiam, on the other hand, reportedly attempted to leave the country for Toronto Wednesday morning using a fake Canadian visa sticker on his passport.

He claimed that he acquired his fake visa from a friend who works at the Canadian embassy in Senegal.

With this, Medina warned foreigners from using fake passports and visa in their bid to leave the country.

“This should serve as a warning to foreigners not to use the Philippines as a jump off point to other countries. You cannot elude the watchful eyes of immigration officers in our ports. Our personnel are highly skilled in detecting fraud, and we have the technology to instantly verify the authenticity of documents presented,” Medina said in a statement.

All three foreigners were placed under the BI’s blacklist to prevent them from re-entering the Philippines. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)