American wanted for assault arrested in Batangas

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) and Batangas police arrested Wednesday an American wanted in California on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and simple assault.

According to Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete, operatives of the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit, in coordination with Batangas police, caught a certain Peter Alex Drier on Wednesday. The said suspected was an undocumented foreigner.

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San Diego Police Department in California had issued a warrant against Drier, said Perete.

The arrested foreigner would remain under the custody of Batangas police while they are waiting for the results of his COVID-19 swab test.

Perete added the wanted American would be deported if he has no criminal complaints against him in the Philippines.

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Last month, the Bureau of Immigration deported an alleged American pedophile who was accused of sexually exploiting girls in Cebu City during his frequent travels to the Philippines.

Also read: BI to deport apprehended Chinese yacht passengers in Palawan

BI intercepts 3 trafficking victims bound for Dubai, Athens at NAIA

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Monday its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) recently barred three suspect victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment from leaving the country.

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According to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, BI Port Operations Division Acting Chief Grifton Medina reported the victims were intercepted last week before they could board their flights to Europe and the Middle East.

Medina said one was bound for Dubai while the two others were going to Greece. All of them showed intentions to work illegally as undocumented workers.

“Thanks to the vigilance of our primary inspectors for foiling these attempts by human trafficking syndicates to sneak their victims out of the country,” Medina said, adding that the victims were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for investigation.

According to BI’s Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU) Head Ma. Timotea Barizo, “the Dubai-bound passenger was intercepted last 25 July 2020 after the immigration officer noticed that the Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) was not cleared and validated by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration – Labor Assistance Center (POEA-LAC) desk at the NAIA.”

Verification with the POEA-LAC revealed the victims’ travel documents were fraudulent, including fake OECs and local employment certificates.