THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Sunday completed the inquest proceedings against two alleged human traffickers who attempted to facilitate the travel of six Filipino victims to Malta.

Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) Chief Bienvenido Castillo III said the victims were intercepted last March 22 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 after attempting to depart as tourists on board a Philippine Airlines flight to Hong Kong.

The victims, comprised of five females and one male, initially claimed to be traveling abroad as tourists with two other female companions who they said were their churchmates.

Immigration officers noted inconsistencies in their statements and subjected them to secondary inspection. It was later found out that the six victims were actually bound for Malta after being recruited by the two female recruiters.

The victims paid P300,000 to P400,000 each to their recruiters in exchange for processing of their applications.

It was also found out that their passports have been tampered, with their visas chemically lifted from their passports as certified by the BI’s forensic documents laboratory.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco hailed the arrest and detention, saying that traffickers who prey on the vulnerable to earn money deserve to face the consequences of their action.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Jun I. Legaspi