Coast Guard intercepts 11 illegal aliens in GenSan

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Eleven Indian nationals, including a woman and a teenager, were arrested Wednesday night while trying to enter the country illegally through General Santos City aboard a fishing boat.

Apprehended were Tripta Devi, 38, the lone woman; Dinesh Kumar Hintani, 24; Sindhu Manjinder, 34; Singh Gurcharanjit, 30; and Jagfar, 20, Tajinder, 16, Jagit, 23 Surjit, 35, Angraj, 38, Jaswant, 46, and Balwinder, 24, all surnamed Singh.

Cmdr. Jorge Ursabia Jr., Coast Guard station commander in General Santos City, told The STAR yesterday police and the Coast Guard stopped the illegal aliens at around 7 p.m. as the F/B Mudah Hasen was about to dock on the beach in Barangay Bawing .

"An informant saw at about 4 p.m. (Wednesday) that a number of foreigners were transferring from one fishing vessel to another at the territorial water boundaries of Indonesia and the Philippines," he said.

Ursabia said a human-smuggling syndicate operating in Southern Mindanao has been sneaking in aliens from India and China through the country’s backdoor for an individual fee ranging from P100,000 to P200,000.

"We have been monitoring this group since the month of January after we received an intelligence report about the proliferation of a human smuggling syndicate here," he said.

Coast Guard investigators are trying to verify a report that the 11 Indians were armed when they entered Sarangani Bay but threw their weapons into the water when they "sensed the presence of authorities," Ursabia added.

Senior Superintendent Leonardo Espina, Philippine National Police spokesman, told reporters yesterday the 11 Indians have been turned over to the Bureau of Immigration.

Deputy Immigration Officer Ed de Lima told The STAR yesterday the arrest of the 11 Indians was a similar case of human smuggling as that of 10 other Indians whom Customs inspectors found hiding in the hold of a cargo ship docked in Davao City a few years ago.

"The operation of this syndicate was unchecked in the past because of its linkages to some influential individuals in the city," he said.

Businessman Domingo Teng who owns the F/B Muda Hasen will also be held liable for allowing the trawler to be used in smuggling illegal aliens, he added.

Central Mindanao police director Senior Superintendent Bartolome Baluyot said the fishing boat’s skipper, Fernando Ando will be charged with human smuggling.

Immigration authorities believe that the passports of the 11 Indians are fake because these were not issued in New Delhi, the only place where Indians bound for the Philippines can get their passports.

The illegal aliens may have also sneaked into the country from Indonesia as their passports bear Indonesian entry stamps, immigration authorities added.

Lt. Arman Balilo, Coast Guard spokesman, said authorities are investigating why the 11 Indians tried to enter the country through General Santos City.

"As of now, we could not ascertain the real purpose of these Indian nationals in entering through the southern backdoor," he said. "But we have reports that foreign terrorists will be using Mindanao as their entry point."

It is the first time that Indians were caught sneaking via Mindanao as most of them try to enter the country through Northern Luzon, a Coast Guard official said.

Authorities in General Santos City have been on alert since April 21 when a powerful bomb ripped through a shopping mall, killing 15 people and injuring 50 others.–John Paul Jubelag, Nestor Etolle, Christina Mendez, Jose Aravilla