3 Chinese plane pickpockets to be blacklisted by BI

MANILA, Philippines — Three Chinese men accused of stealing valuables from hand-carried bags while on a flight from Malaysia will be blacklisted by the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

Lyu Shuiming, 48, Xu Xianpu, 41, and Xie Xiaoyong, 54, “have been recommended for inclusion in the BI’s blacklist,” according to a statement from the agency on Sept. 18.

Flight attendants of the Philippine Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur caught Lyu stealing valuable items from the handbag of a Filipina judge that was placed in the overhead compartment.

After the flight personnel reported the incident, members of the Aviation Security Group held Lyu and recovered from him P63,000 in cash and other items owned by the judge.

However, Xu and Xie were able to board another flight bound for Hong Kong.