2 Japanese fugitives deported

MANILA, Philippines — Two of four Japanese fugitives wanted by their government for a string of violent robberies and telephone fraud cases in Japan were deported yesterday.

Fujita Toshiya and Imamura Kiyoto, both 38, were escorted by Japanese police as they boarded a Japan Airlines flight to Tokyo at around 9:30 a.m., Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.

The two other fugitives, Watanabe Yuki and Saito Tomonobu, are expected to be deported today after the cases they “contrived” against themselves to stay in the Philippines were dismissed yesterday, according to officials.

All four suspects were held at the BI detention facility at Camp Bagong Diwa. They were caught with 24 cell phones that may have been used to run “criminal enterprises,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told reporters last week.

Criminals were reportedly given orders to carry out break-ins or fraud. Japanese broadcaster NHK said more than 70 people have been apprehended.

The group was thought to be behind 2,300 cases of fraud worth 3.5 billion yen ($26.4 million), NHK said.

Officials believe the group’s ringleader, identified by the arrested criminals only as “Luffy,” is Watanabe.

“While the identity of “Luffy” is not yet confirmed, we are working with the Department of Justice and the Japanese authorities to be able to expedite the deportation to give more clarity to this case,” Tansingco said.

Remulla told reporters yesterday that the Pasay Regional Trial Court Branch 109 released two orders dismissing domestic violence charges against Watanabe and Saito, whose camps said they intend to appeal the decision.

“Why are you asking the court to reverse the dismissal of the case when it is favorable to your client?” Remulla said. – Rudy Santos, AFP