Tokyo Interpol steps up hunt for Japanese fugitives in RP

MANILA, Philippines - The Tokyo International Police (Interpol) recently designated a liaison officer to the Philippines as part of an intensified drive to arrest Japanese fugitives hiding in the country, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said yesterday.

BI-Interpol chief Floro Balato Jr. said the dispatch of a liaison officer by the Tokyo Interpol to Manila is a manifestation of Japan ’s confidence in the BI’s capability to run after Japanese fugitives.

Balato said police Inspector Takashi Furukawa was sent to Manila after a delegation of Japanese police officers visited the BI main office in Manila and called on Commissioner Marcelino Libanan last May 20.

The visitors were then briefed by Libanan and other BI officials on the progress of the bureau’s drive against foreign fugitives, many of whom have been arrested and deported to face trial in their homelands.

Furukawa was accompanied by Japanese embassy First Secretary Toshio Suzuki in visiting the bureau’s facilities.

The BI said prior to his Manila posting, Furukawa was assistant director of the Gifu Prefectural Police. He was also the former bureau chief of the criminal investigation unit of the Japanese police.

Libanan formed the BI-Interpol unit in June last year to spearhead the agency’s campaign against foreign criminals hiding in the country.