BI stops Senegalese national from leaving PH over fake visa

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) stops a Senegalese national from leaving the country for Europe as she was found to be carrying a fake Schengen visa on February 26, 2024. PHOTO FROM ALEXIS CORPUZ/INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — Immigration personnel have blocked a Senegalese national from leaving the country for Europe as she was found to be carrying a fake Schengen visa.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said 23-year-old Binetou Dieng was stopped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Feb. 26, as she tried to board a flight to Taipei going to her destination in Milan, Italy.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said his personnel received a tip that the Senegalese national had counterfeit travel documents. She was approached by agents and subjected to further questioning, leading the immigration personnel to confirm that she was indeed carrying fake papers.

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Tansingco believed that Dieng’s trip may have been facilitated by a syndicate engaged in human trafficking.

“We suspect that this woman’s trip was facilitated by a syndicate engaged in the trafficking of Africans to Europe. We learned that she just arrived from the Middle East two days ago with a companion whom we suspect is a courier for the syndicate,” the BI chief said.

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Currently, Dieng is detained at the BI’s facility in Taguig City, as she will be deported and included in the BI’s blacklist.