Human trafficker arrested at airport
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sun, 12 May 2019 09:40:53 +0000
Bureau of Immigration officers have arrested a suspected human trafficker at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport who was trying to escort out of the country three victims recruited to work in the European island nation of Malta.
BI port operations chief Grifton Medina said the suspect and his victims attempted to board an Eva Air flight to Malta at the NAIA Terminal 1 last Tuesday when they were intercepted by members of the bureau’s travel control and enforcement unit.
He added that as a result of the incident, the BI was again able to rescue three Filipinos from possible abuse and exploitation in foreign lands.
Their names were not divulged as the law prohibits the public disclosure of names of victims in human trafficking cases.
According to NAIA 1 TCEU head Glenn Ford Comia, the victims initially claimed they were on a business trip and that they are employees of a recruitment agency.
However, when placed under secondary interview by TCEU members Pamela Eugenio and Pamela Gonzales, the three victims admitted that they were not employees of the recruitment agency, and pointed to their other companion as the one who recruited them to work as housekeepers in Malta.
They stated that each of them paid the recruiter P310,000 for their placement fees and travel costs. “I pity them because they said that they had to borrow from their relatives to pay for their recruitment fees,” said Comia.
404All four were turned over to the custody of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for investigation and filing of appropriate charges against the recruiter. (Jun Ramirez)