US fugitive nabbed in QC

A 72-year-old American citizen wanted in the US for racketeering was arrested yesterday in Quezon City by agents of the Bureau of Immigration.

Eduardo Mina, who had worked for the Honolulu Liquor Commission, was charged in the US last May along with seven others with racketeering, bribery and extortion. They were indicted before a court in Hawaii after being accused of conspiring to accept bribes or extort money from strip bars in Honolulu in exchange for ignoring liquor law violations.

The accused were charged with one count of violating the US Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or the RICO Law and three counts of violating the Hobbs Act for their bribery and extortion activities.

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo said Mina’s deportation was requested by the US Embassy in Manila. He will be deported to Guam, from where he will be fetched by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and escorted to the US.

Domingo said the arrested US citizen will also be banned from re-entering the Philippines.

Mina, who is of Filipino descent, was arrested at the house of his Filipina daughter. Immigration records showed that he arrived in Manila a few months ago. – With AFP