Fake mole a gives away human-trafficking victim at NAIA

Immigration agents on Thursday intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) a woman with a fake mole who was trying to leave the country using the passport of another woman.

The woman, whose name was withheld by Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr., was believed to be a victim of human traffickers. David said the woman attempted to board a Philippine Airlines flight to Singapore.

Bureau of Immigration Airport Operations Division acting chief Benito Se said the passenger claimed she was traveling as a tourist but immigration officers learned she had no hotel reservation and could not state her purpose for going to Singapore.

Se said immigration officers then noticed dissimilarities in the facial features of the passenger and her passport photograph. “She was told to wipe her face with a handkerchief which caused the removal of the fake mole,” Se said.

The passenger was turned over to the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking at the NAIA for investigation. David said the antitrafficking law forbids the public disclosure of the names of human-trafficking victims.—Jerome Aning