THREE Chinese were arrested by the police in Tawi-Tawi after attempting to enter the country via the southern backdoor, the Bureau of Immigration said yesterday.
BI Fugitive Search Unit Chief Rendel Ryan Sy identified the three as Zhang Xiaofeng, 36; Guo Jinxia, 35; and Zhong Xiongwei, 54.
Sy said Zang and Guo were intercepted by operatives of the Mapun Municipal Police station of the Tawi-Tawi Police Provincial Office during a routine checkpoint at the Port of Mapun in Tawi-Tawi.
Zhong was intercepted by the 1st Special Operations Unit, Special Boat Crew of the Philippine National Police Maritime group during a different port inspection activity in the province.
Sy said the three were later turned over to the BI detention facility in Taguig by the local police, where they will remain while facing their deportation case.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the apprehension of the three illustrates the collaboration between the PNP and the BI “in areas being used as illegal migration corridors or what is commonly known as backdoor to address cases of foreign nationals illegally crossing maritime borders.”
Earlier, authorities said the porous southern border of the country is being used not only by foreigners but even human traffickers and smugglers to spirit people out of the country.
