11 held at Cebu airport; junket firm linked to kidnap-slay crops up
Mactan-Cebu International Airport. —Inquirer Visayas/Dale Israel
MANILA, Philippines — Eleven people—nine foreign nationals and two Filipinos—were arrested Friday night at Mactan-Cebu International Airport after they were found allegedly carrying cash in Philippine and foreign currencies equivalent to almost half a billion pesos.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Saturday said the group was stopped from boarding a private plane bound for Manila after the undeclared bulk of cash kept in one of their bags was detected during the X-ray security checks.
Detained were six Chinese nationals, one Malaysian, one Indonesian, one Kazakh and two Filipinos.
The arrest and confiscation of the money raised several red flags for the PNP, who said two of the arrested Chinese turned out to be respondents in criminal cases pending in the Philippines, while a third Chinese was the subject of an Interpol notice for fraud.
The foreigners, the PNP added, claimed they were casino players brought into the country by the junket operator White Horse Club.
READ: US$1.36M of Que ransom cashed out via Cambodia-based pay service
This raised further suspicions. Earlier this week, the PNP identified White Horse Club as one of the two junket operators (the other being 9 Dynasty Group) whose accounts were used as conduits for the ransom paid by the family of slain Chinese-Filipino businessman Anson Tan, also known as Anson Que.
Comelec ‘money ban’
Another charge being considered by the PNP against the group was for violation of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ban on the transport of cash exceeding P500,000 during the last three days leading to the elections.
Intended as a deterrent to vote-buying, the Comelec “money ban”, took effect on Saturday—or before the arrest—and will last till May 12.
Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, the PNP spokesperson, said the 11 suspects were questioned for carrying P441.92 million, US$168,730 and HKD 1,000 in cash.
Unable to produce a document to explain the source of the money, the group claimed it was part of their winnings from a casino in Cebu.
It was also during questioning that they revealed that their junket operator was White Horse, Fajardo said in a briefing at Camp Crame.
They declared only three of the four pieces of luggage they were carrying. The money was detected when the fourth bag was checked, she said.
PH, Interpol cases
Fajardo said two of the Chinese nationals—Li Fei and Whang Zhino—were found to be carrying fake Philippine driving licenses.
Li Fei and another arrested compatriot, Chen Hao, are facing a theft case before the Paranaque Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 78, she said.
Another Chinese—Wu Song—was found to be on an Interpol notice for fraud, she added.
Also at Saturday’s briefing, Brig. Gen. Christopher Abecia, director of the Aviation Security Group (Avsegroup), noted that after the group failed to produce a document for the money when questioned at 11:30 p.m. on Friday, their “casino certification” was released only at 3 a.m. on Saturday.
“That’s when we had more doubts. These casino winnings are probably not authenticated or not real, and (the certification is) only being used to justify their possession of that large amount of money,” Abecia said.
Fajardo said one aspect of the PNP investigation would “trace the origin” of the intercepted cash. /cb
