Two Chinese nationals, who posed as citizens of Costa Rica, have been arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Thursday, Oct. 24.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado identified them as Wang Songyi, 54, and Liao Fudi, 50, who were intercepted last Saturday, Oct. 19, before they could board their flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Viado said that “investigation revealed that the passengers intended to proceed to Canada where they planned to use their Costa Rican passports to evade and circumvent Canada’s entry visa requirements for Chinese nationals."
In a statement, the BI said that the passports of the two Chinese nationals have Philippine immigration arrival stamps "which were found as counterfeit by the BI’s forensic documents laboratory."
“They were also unable to speak in Spanish, which is the language in Costa Rica,” it added.
The arrested Chinese nationals are now detained at the BI’s facility in Taguig City while awaiting deportation.