A Swiss woman who claimed to be a morphine addict after acting strangely at Manila’s airport has been barred from the country.
The 35-year-old horticulturist was immediately put on a flight back to Hong Kong from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported today (Tuesday, December 11).
The BI said Chrystel Canitrot was denied entry last Thursday (December 6). The bureau’s statement described her as “restless and disturbed” during her interview with immigration officers. She was also uncooperative and unable to answer questions about her travel plans in the country.
“She could not answer basic questions, and later admitted that she is dependent on morphine. She asked that she be given morphine because she was in pain and said that she just wanted to get out of the airport,” BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said.
“She claims that she does not know anyone in the Philippines, and could not name the place where she would stay. It was so strange. She would fall asleep in the middle of the interview, which prompted us to refer her to the airport’s medical team for examination.”
Canitrot told officers that she had come to the country for a two-month stay “to go to the beach”. However, she was unable to specify which beach.
She was sent back to Hong Kong and banned from returning to the Philippines. “We had no choice but to order her exclusion as she is likely to become a public charge,” Medina said in his report.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente commended the immigration officers for denying entry to a suspected drug abuser.
He also reminded foreign drug users that they were not welcome in the Philippines. “President Duterte is keen on solving our country’s drug problem,” he said. “We don’t need you here to give us added burden.”
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