The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Friday, Nov. 18, that it has intercepted three human trafficking victims who attempted to leave the country by pretending to be employees of businesses inside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
The victims, two females and a male, tried to board separate flights for Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore last November 6 when caught by the airport security police at the boarding gates of NAIA.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the victims presented identification cards showing they were workers of business establishments inside the NAIA, which turned out to be fake.
Further investigation and searches showed the trio carried passports and boarding passes with fake immigration stamps.
When confronted, one of the victims admitted that they were actually going to Lebanon to work as domestic helpers without travel documents.
The BI chief said he has already ordered an investigation as similar incident happened in 2014 when four trafficking victims tried to depart using the employees' entrance.