43 Taiwanese nationals deported

CEBU, Philippines - Despite the bad weather, the 43 Taiwanese nationals who were arrested a few weeks ago for alleged involvement in a blackmail syndicate were deported back to their country.

Superintendent Rex Derilo, the acting chief of the Regional Intelligence Division of the Police Regional Office-7, said the flight of the Taiwanese suspects was delayed for several hours because of Typhoon Jenny.

He said since most of the victims are from China and Taiwan it is necessary that they should be deported.

The police earlier withdrew the case they filed against the suspects since they cannot be deported if there are existing cases against them in the country.

As for the 25 Chinese nationals who were allegedly the accomplices in the operation, Derilo said they have also withdrawn the cases filed against the foreigners and the deportation procedures are already underway.

He said the Chinese consulate is currently investigating its citizens and when it is done, these suspects will also eventually be deported.

However, Derilo said they are still investigating the case since there are other accomplices of the Taiwanese and Chinese suspects the police were unable to arrest during their implementation of the search warrant.

“Most of them are undocumented so we do not know if they ran to Manila or they went away,” said Derilo.

Earlier this month, 68 Chinese and Taiwanese were arrested in a joint operation by different government agencies around Cebu City.

During the operation, the police recovered several Internet and VoIP connection equipment that included routers, telephones and modems from the houses they were staying.

However, during their operation, only six out of nine locations were raided with the suspects inside. The subjects in the other locations were not around during the operation.

The foreigners were tagged as part of a big syndicate based in the Philippines extorting money by blackmailing business owners in Taiwan and China, in violation of the Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998. — (FREEMAN)