A South Korean with arrest warrant in his country on drugs trafficking charges has been arrested at the Clark International Airport (CIA) in Pampanga.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) identified the foreigner as Choi Minjae, 33, against whom "a warrant of arrest was issued by the Ulsan district court in southeastern Korea where he was indicted for violating his country’s Narcotics Control Act."
The BI said that "the South Korean authorities stated that between April 2022 to June 2023 Choi and an accomplice sold thru the Internet over $3.27 million worth of drugs, including synthetic marijuana and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), the sales of which were transacted 539 times via the messaging app Telegram."
It also said that Choi, who has been ordered deported by the BI since February for being an undesirable alien, is “the subject of an Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) red notice that was issued last February 2 which stemmed from the filing of a narcotics case against him.”
"Choi was stopped from boarding his flight to Seoul, South Korea after the BI officer who processed him saw that the passenger’s name prompted a positive hit in the bureau’s derogatory check system indicating that he was blacklisted as a result of the deportation order against him,” it added.
In the meantime, Choi has been detained at the BI's facility in Taguig City pending his deportation.