Two suspected human traffickers, a Filipina and a Japanese national, have been arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for attempting to send 13 Filipinos to Japan.
The suspects, whose names were withheld, have been turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) “for formal investigation and filing of appropriate charges,” the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Wednesday, May 14.
Immigration officers prevented the 13 suspected victims of human trafficking from boarding their flight to Nagoya, Japan last May 9, the BI said.
It said that “upon secondary inspection, the immigration officers uncovered that the 13 individuals were victims of illegal recruitment, being misled to pose as technical interns to gain employment in Japan.”
Prior to the arrest of the suspected recruiters and the interception of the alleged victims, the BI said it earlier received intelligence information from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) about their suspected illegal recruitment activities.
“This arrest is a clear demonstration of the IACAT’s commitment to protect Filipinos from trafficking syndicates as directed by President Marcos,” Viado said.
“Together as an inter-agency body, we are monitoring cases of abuse, including those involving the misrepresentation of technical internship programs,” he added.