BI intercepts suspected human trafficking victim with fake stamp at Naia

INQUIRER file photo / ALEXIS CORPUZ

MANILA, Philippines — A suspected human trafficking victim with a fake border stamp was intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Friday.

In a statement, the Travel Control and Enforcement Unit of Immigration said that the female victim intercepted at Naia Terminal 3 on April 30 attempted to depart the country to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates via Cebu Pacific.

According to the victim, she was invited by her cousin, who also allegedly processed her documents.

She confessed that she handed her passport and boarding pass to an unnamed woman riding a taxi waiting for her outside the airport.

The woman came back to her after 15 minutes giving her passport with a stamp.

Upon inspection, BI’s Forensic Documents Laboratory confirmed that the border stamp on her passport was a counterfeit.

The case was then turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.

Revealing another case of human trafficking, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco warned people involved in this syndicate.

“Our officers have wide-ranging measures to detect and deter fraud,” he said.

“We will continue to safeguard the public against trafficking and aid in bringing these perpetrators to justice,” he added. — Maria Liezl Projella, INQUIRER.net trainee

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JPV/abc