Bureau of Immigration (BI) operatives arrested on Friday a Japanese woman suspected of being a member of the notorious “Luffy” gang which has been linked to numerous theft and fraud cases in her country.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said a team of agents from the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU) arrested 33-year-old Natsuki Kimura along Ayala Avenue in Makati City.
Viado said Kimura was apprehended on the strength of a warrant issued by the bureau’s board of commissioners in March 2023 ordering her deportation to Japan for being an undesirable alien.
Kimura is only one of several suspected members of the Luffy gang to have been arrested by the BI since their presence here was reported to the bureau by the Japanese government.
“Like her co-conspirators in the syndicate she, too, will be deported, blacklisted and banned from re-entering the Philippines,” Viado said, adding that the woman will be flown back to Japan as soon as the required clearances and plane ticket for her departure have been procured.
BI-FSU chief Rendel Ryan Sy said Kimura is subject of an outstanding arrest warrant issued by a Tokyo summary court a year ago after she was charged with theft.
She and her accomplice were accused of stealing ATM cards by falsely posing as police officers in order to deceive their victims into surrendering their cards and other personal information.
She allegedly worked as telephone operator for the Luffy syndicate for its international scamming operations.
Kimura is detained at the BI warden facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City while awaiting deportation. #
