Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) foiled the attempt of suspected human traffickers to allegedly smuggle a family of four Arab nationals to the United Kingdom (UK).
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the mother and her three children were intercepted shortly before boarding a Cathay Pacific flight to Hongkong en route UK.
He said the foreigners presented Seychelles passports to the airline and the immigration officers which turned out to be spurious when examined.
He said fake UK identity cards were also confiscated from them
“They are now undergoing investigation and will be sent back home," Tansingco said.
Tansingco said the human smuggling try was the work of an international trafficking syndicate using Manila as jump-off point for its victims.
BI port operations chief Carlos Capulong said the passengers arrived in Manila last Nov. 6 and stayed for more than two weeks before booking their outbound flight.
“Until now we are still trying to ascertain their true nationality as there is difficulty getting information from them, but we believed they came from the Middle East,” Capulong said.