The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has intercepted a suspected trafficking victim who posed as agent of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
The alleged victim, a 34-year-old female whose name was withheld, was intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) before she could board her flight to Thailand last March 8.
Bienvenido Castillo III of the BI’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) said the intercepted female passenger posed as Interpol agent under the Protective Intelligence Anti-Crime Organization (PIAO).
Castillo said the passenger presented an identification card and letter orders from PIAO to the effect that she was allowed to travel for a holiday.
But, he said, immigration officers noted inconsistencies in her statements and referred her for secondary inspection.
“It was then that she admitted that her documents are fake, and that she was recruited via Facebook to work as a household service worker in Thailand,” Castillo said.
“Her recruiter reportedly offered her P40,000 salary before giving her the documents,” he added.
Commissioner Norman Tansingco lamented “the use of creative stories and documents by traffickers to traffic their victims.”
“Our immigration officers are well-trained to spot inconsistencies and fraud, hence such attempts will not succeed,” he stated.
The intercepted passenger was turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for the filing of cases against her recruiters, the BI said.