3 Chinese nationals detained for black sand mining

Bureau of Immigration building. Photo from Bureau of Immmigration website

MANILA, Philippines —Three Chinese nationals, who were earlier caught for allegedly mining black sand or magnetite without the proper permits in Ilocos Sur, were detained by the Bureau of Immigration after they tried to leave the country two weeks ago, a bureau official said Tuesday.

BI officer in charge Siegfred Mison disclosed that the three foreigners–Cheng Jianping, Yang Qingan and Lin Shisheng–were arrested by immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on September 15 as they were about to leave on board a Philippine Airlines flight to Hong Kong.

Mison said the three were barred at the airport due to a watch-list order issued against them by the BI’s board of commissioners.

The order stemmed from a deportation case that was filed against them for being undesirable aliens, Mison explained.

The three Chinese nationals were among those caught to have engaged in illegal black sand mining in Ilocos Sur in August. They were also among the 16 Chinese nationals charged with immigration law violations for mining without permits, according to BI intelligence chief Jose Carlitos Licas.

Licas on Tuesday said they were charged with undesirability after a composite team from the National Bureau of Investigation, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and the BI raided their workplace in Barangay (village) Nagtupacan in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur on August 3.

During the operation, the raiding team allegedly caught the Chinese nationals in the act of installing extraction pumps and dredging facilities along the shorelines of Barangay Nagtupacan. The authorities also found stockpiles of black concentrates in the area.

The foreigners were charged with violation of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 before the Department of Justice following their arrest.