2 about to board plane arrested

CEBU, Philippines - Two persons arrested at the Mactan Cebu International Airport last Saturday by airport police for falsely using a credit card to buy a plane ticket may have also been trying to recruit minors.

The two are now detained at the National Bureau of Investigation  regional office in Cebu City.  The law prohibits the identification of trafficking victims and suspects but airport police said both suspects came from Cavite City.

The two minors aged 16 and 17, both residents of V. Rama Ave., Cebu City, were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development-7 regional office.

Captain James Beloy, chief of the Intelligence and Investigation Division of the Airport Police District of the MCIAA said in a report that both suspects were arrested at around 8:45 p.m. the other day while they were about to board a Tiger Airways flight to Cavite City.

Earlier Cebu City resident Delfin Cuevas had lodged a complaint before the MCIAA Emergency and Security Services Department claiming that his credit card was illegally used by the suspects in buying the airplane ticket.

Cuevas alleged he was billed for P8,000 and when he verified he found out the two had used his credit card.

When the two were arrested they were found accompanying minors they allegedly recruited for jobs at a karaoke bar in Cavite City.

Charges for qualified theft and violation of the human trafficking law are now being prepared for filing against the suspects. (FREEMAN)