BI takes custody of 8 Koreans in illegal dogfight gambling

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration on Thursday said it had taken custody of the eight South Koreans arrested recently by the police in San Pablo City and Calauan in Laguna for allegedly operating an illegal gambling racket involving pitbulls.

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said he ordered the Koreans’ detention at the BI jail in Bicutan, Taguig City after they were released for further investigation by the city prosecutor’s office in San Pablo and after charges for violations of immigration laws were filed against them.

In a statement, David said he was “disturbed” to learn that the Koreans were the same group of foreigners caught by the police in Indang, Cavite on Dec. 3 last year for engaging in illegal online dogfight operations.

“This time we will make sure they do not go scot-free until the cases against them are resolved by the courts,” David said, even as he vowed to turn down any petition for bail that may be filed by the Koreans.

For his part, BI special prosecutor Cris Villalobos disclosed that the Koreans were charged with violating the immigration act either for illegally staying in the country or violating the conditions of their stay.

Villalobos said five of the Koreans were overstaying tourists while two are undocumented and have no record of arrival in the country. The eighth Korean, who is a permanent resident visa holder, will be recommended for deportation as an undesirable alien, Villalobos added.

BI legal division chief Arvin Santos explained that the Koreans could be deported until the cases filed against them are resolved by the courts.

“If convicted, they will have to serve their sentence first before we can deport them. After that, we will place them in our blacklist and ban them from re-entering the Philippines,” Santos said.

Policemen and representatives from the Philippine Animal Welfare Society seized more than 300 pitbulls from the suspects when they were arrested on March 30.

The Koreans were identified as Lee Gwi Woo, 21; Jeong Yeon Hwal, 31; Noh Min Chul, 44; Lee Kyung Won, 31; Kim Young Hwan, 29; Hyun Ho Han, 45; Hong Jeong Oh, 43; and Kim Do Kyung, 41.

According to media reports, the seized pitbulls were pitted against each other at a dogfight arena in three- to five-minute fights streamed live on the Internet. Patrons, mostly foreigners, placed bets worth hundreds of thousands to a million Korean won through credit cards or the online money transfer Paypal.