Five foreigners, who were suspected to be working for a criminal group, were arrested in Palawan for violations of the Philippines' immigration laws.

In a statement issued on Friday, Oct. 20, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) identified those arrested as Taiwanese Lin Tsung-Te, 58; and Chinese nationals Lin Yongzhen, 45; Zhang Haicong, 49; Zhang Jinfei, 47; and Zhang Haicong, 33.

“All five were found to be working in fisheries near naval bases and were reportedly associated with a Palawan-based organized Chinese crime group involved in illegal activities, including wildlife trade, facilitating the illegal entry of undocumented Chinese nationals and harboring undocumented Chinese nationals, land acquisition through Filipino proxies, and unlawful acquisition of Philippine identification documents,” BI said. 

“They were arrested for violations of the Philippine Immigration Act and will remain in the BI’s facility in Bicutan, Taguig while facing their deportation cases,” it added.

BI said that the five foreigners were arrested last Oct. 17 during operations conducted by the BI’s Intelligence Division (BI-ID) in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

It said the operations were conducted following investigation conducted by the agency that “stemmed from intelligence reports that the foreigners were working without the proper documents.”

Of those arrested, Zhang Haicong and Zhang Jinfei misrepresented themselves and were found in possession of Philippine drivers’ licenses even though they were both found to have working visas but working in different work sites, BI said.

It said that Zhang Jinfei was found working in Barangay Tagburos in Puerto Princesa City, while Zhang Haicong, 33, was found with Lin Tsung-Te, 58 in Barangay Limnagcong. Lin Tsung-Te failed to present his passport and was found already overstaying since 2016.