The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested a Senegalese woman who attempted to depart for Europe with a fake Schengen visa.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified the passenger as 23-year-old Binetou Dieng, who was stopped from leaving at the immigration departure area of NAIA’s terminal 1.
She attempted to board an Eva Air flight to Taipei en route to her final destination in Milan, Italy when she was subjected to secondary inspection by the immigration supervisors who were tipped that she was in possession of counterfeit travel documents.
“We suspect that this woman’s trip was facilitated by a syndicate engaged in the trafficking of Africans to Europe. We learned that she just arrived from the Middle East two days ago with a companion whom we suspect is a courier for the syndicate,” the BI chief said.
The immigration supervisors said they subjected Dieng to further questioning after her case was referred to them by Eva Air representatives.
“The alert airline personnel, who are also trained in detecting such frauds, alerted our officers on the suspicious visa,” Tansingco added.
The airline personnel reported the incident to their counterparts in the Netherlands, who told them to be on the lookout for the fake document.
Subsequent examination by the BI anti-fraud section confirmed that both the Schengen visa and identity card presented by the passenger are fake.
“We commend the alert airline personnel who proactively alerted immigration of the fraud. Alert and well-trained airline staff are essential partners of immigration in combating attempts of fraud and illegal travel,” Tansingco said.
Dieng is now detained at the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.
She will later be expelled for using spurious immigration documents and placed on the BI blacklist to prevent her from re-entering the Philippines.
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