BI to deport ex-US pilot for oil theft in Iraq

A former member of the United States Air Force, who reportedly helped pilfer $40 million worth of petroleum and oil products from a military base in Iraq almost two years ago, will soon be deported back to his country to face the allegations in court.

The Bureau of Immigration said in a statement that its’ agents apprehended 55-year-old Robert John Jeffery inside a bar located along Friendship Highway in Barangay Anunas, Angeles City, Pampanga province upon the request of the US Embassy in Manila. Jeffery is the subject of a warrant of arrest issued by a district court in Eastern Virginia. The US State Department also canceled his passport, thus making him an undocumented alien and illegally staying in the country.

The BI-Law Enforcement Division operatives arrested Jeffery on Nov. 19 on the strength of a mission order.

BI technical assistant for intelligence Victor Boco said the US Air Force personnel, conspired with others to perform a systematic pilferage of petroleum and oil products, that amounted to $40 million, inside a US military base in Iraq in 2007. The agency’s travel records showed that the fugitive reportedly arrived in Manila on April 27 and was given a 21-day tourist visa.

Jeffery will be deported as soon as the agency’s board of commissioners issues the order for his summary deportation. He will also be placed in the Immigration’s blacklist that would bar him from returning to the country.

A team of US Marshals will fetch Jeffery in Manila and escort him back to the US where he is wanted to stand trial before a district court in Eastern Virginia that issued a warrant for his arrest on Aug. 8, 2007.