Two foreigners in separate child exploitation cases arrested

(Photo: https://www.bworldonline.com/the-nation/2026/02/23/732281/bi-seeks-stricter-measures-in-tawi-tawi-to-curb-fugitive-exits/

THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it arrested a Japanese national and an American national in separate operations for their alleged involvement in child exploitation cases.

In a statement on Sunday, the agency said that the arrests were carried out by its fugitive search unit in the provinces of Cavite and Tarlac.

The 43-year-old Japanese national was apprehended on May 12 in Cavite for alleged sexual crimes against three minors in Japan in 2018; while the 37-year-old American national was arrested on May 13 in Tarlac for US federal charges related to enticing and coercing a minor.

The BI said the Japanese national has been overstaying since 2022, while the American is believed to have entered the country illegally following a previous exclusion in February.

The agency said that both men are held at the bureau’s warden facility pending deportation. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking