Korean official seeks deportation of compatriot nabbed for abuse, drug raps

QCPD director Chief Supt. Richard Albano. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–A representative of the Korean government in Manila is seeking for the deportation of a Korean national nabbed for beating his wife and taking his child hostage last week in Quezon City.

Korean police attaché Park Yong Jeung wrote the Quezon City Police District, seeking the deportation of Lee Man Kwon.

Lee was a fugitive fleeing from drug trafficking charges when he was arrested Monday last week after a 13-hour hostage drama in Fairview.

“I would appreciate it if the QCPD will properly coordinate with the Bureau of Immigration for Mr. Lee’s immediate turn-over and deportation to Korea since a Summary Deportation Order was already issued on June 6, 2013,” the police attaché said in his letter to QCPD director Chief Supt. Richard Albano.

Park said Lee was previously apprehended this month in Manila for not paying his hotel bill.

The foreigner was brought to the Manila Police District Substation 5 on Pedro Gil last Aug. 17 after the staff of Hyatt Hotel accused him of not paying his bill. The hotel did not pursue the case and Lee was eventually released.

Lee, as it turns out, was on the Interpol watchlist after an Incheon court ordered his arrest in January 2011 for allegedly smuggling drugs from the Philippines to Guam.

The foreigner supposedly had Filipino cohorts, who delivered two kilos of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) from the Philippines to Guam but were arrested in December 2011 at the Incheon airport.

Lee had been staying in the Philippines for two years prior to his arrest last Aug. 19. The QCPD is checking information that the foreigner had acquired properties in the country.

Meanwhile, deputy director for operations Senior Supt. Procopio Lipana said the Korean, a casino financier, is also suspected of distributing shabu to Korean gamblers at casinos.