BI orders stricter monitoring of foreigners after trafficking try

The Bureau of Immigration’s counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has ordered its personnel to impose stricter vetting process for foreigners following a failed attempt to smuggle three Iranians into the country.

This development came after the BI Port Operations Division (POD) reported on Dec. 24 three Iranians carrying Belgian passports, who were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1.

READ: Immigration stops human smuggling attempt at Naia

The Iranians arrived at NAIA via Thai Airways Flight TG 620 from Bangkok. However, their passports were later found by BI personnel to be fraudulent.

BI POD chief Marc Red Mariñas on Wednesday said the foreigners were “mere victims of the syndicate that gave them their bogus Belgian passports.”

“As a result of this incident, we have instructed our immigration officers to be doubly strict in examining the travel papers of arriving foreigners, particularly Middle Eastern nationals who present European passports,” Mariñas said in a statement. /jpv