Immigration agents arrest US fugitive in Oriental Mindoro

INQUIRER.net stock photo

MANILA, Philippines — Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents have recently apprehended a 51-year-old American fugitive Paul Scott Finch in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, following an earlier warrant of deportation.

Authorities arrested Finch on Monday. He allegedly has two arrest warrants under the Walton County Superior Court in Monroe, Georgia, for possession of firearms by a convicted felon and failing to appear with the underlying charge of tampering with evidence.

“Our counterparts from the US government recently shared information about his (Finch’s) crimes. We conducted a manhunt and discovered that he had been hiding in Mindoro,” BI Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) Chief Rendel Ryan Sy said in a statement issued by the bureau on Wednesday.

Sy added that Finch’s passport had been revoked by the US government, making him an undocumented alien.

Finch is temporarily detained at the BI’s holding facility in Taguig, pending deportation. His name is now on the bureau’s blacklist, making him ineligible to re-enter the country after deportation.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente lauded the FSU for Finch’s arrest.

“We remain firm in our goal to rid the country of these undesirables to ensure the safety of Filipinos,” he added.

RELATED STORIES

BI records 72% drop in January to September passenger arrivals

PH still closed to foreign tourists – Bureau of Immigration

Bureau of Immigration reshuffles 341 personnel at NAIA

abc