Two Europe-bound African nationals pretending to be Guatemalan citizens were apprehended by immigration officers in a separate foiled attempt at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The two, identified as Clarisse Madzo Chedjou, was apprehended upon her arrival from China while Mfamy Garcia Jefferson was about to leave for Taipei, Taiwan.
BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said the two passengers were intercepted at the NAIA Terminal 1 for using counterfeit Guatemalan passports.
“They are now detained at our detention facility in Bicutan, Taguig pending their prosecution for violating our immigration laws,” Medina said.
“This is the latest in a series of interceptions involving aliens with fake passports,” he added.
Chedjou, a Cameroonian woman, and Jefferson, also a Cameroonian, were using the Philippines as a jump-off point to enter European countries.
Jefferson was prevented from boarding his flight bound for Frankfurt, Germany.
“The Guatemalan passports they used are both spurious with counterfeit biographical pages as confirmed by our forensic document laboratory,” Medina said.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente expressed his concern over what appeared to be a proliferation of fake Guatemalan passports of illegal aliens planning to use Manila as a transit point to gain entry to first world countries.
He instructed Immigration officers in all ports of entry to thoroughly screen arriving aliens’ passports to ensure that impostors involved in illegal travel are caught and deported.