The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested a South Korean national who is on the wanted list of the Interpol for being a fugitive from justice in his country.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified the passenger as 47-year-old Choi Injoon, who was intercepted at the NAIA terminal 3 on Monday while he was about to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Ho Chih Minh City, Vietnam.
Tansingco said Choi was not allowed to leave and was instead arrested after his name prompted a positive hit in the bureau’s Interpol derogatory check system indicating that he is a wanted fugitive in South Korea.
He was later committed to the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.
“We will deport him to Korea as soon as we have issued the order for his summary deportation. We will coordinate the arrangements for his departure with the South Korean embassy in Manila,” Tansingco said.
According to the BI-Interpol, Choi is wanted by authorities in Korea for illegal gambling which he allegedly committed by opening and operating several gambling sites in the Internet.
He was accused of hiring in 2017 an expert computer programmer who enabled him to make profits by stealing personal data of victims from internet sites through hacking and manipulating internet gambling matches.
Choi reportedly established his headquarters in Cambodia in 2018 where his recruited hackers and programmers operated internet gambling sites that offered various types of games, including sports contests and online casino cards and slot machine games.
Following his indictment, a warrant for Choi’s arrest was issued by the Ulsan district court in Korea on Dec. 28, 2023 which became the basis for the Interpol to issue a red notice against him.
As a consequence of his arrest, Choi will be included in the immigration blacklist and banned from reentering the Philippines for being an undesirable alien.
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