Just a few days after the release of the new, high-security Philippine passports, 187 Indonesian and Malaysian nationals were arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila for using Philippine passports to go to Saudi Arabia.
At least 177 Indonesians were arrested, according to an ABS-CBN News report, while Philippine Daily Inquirer says at least 10 Malaysians were also apprehended by immigration officials.
The group was waiting for their Philippine Airlines flight heading to Medina, Saudi Arabia, when immigration authorities from the anti-human trafficking task force questioned their documents at 3:30am on Fri, Aug 19.
According to the same ABS-CBN report, all passports were issued from the Department of Foreign Affairs’ office in Manila.
We wonder if they got the new, colorful and shiny passports?
Five Filipinos, the alleged organizers of the group, were also arrested at the scene and will be charged with human trafficking and falsification of documents.
According to Inquirer, authorities noticed that all the foreigners’ luggage had the name “Sheik Omar Abdulaziz” on it. As of posting, authorities have yet to reveal any information about the name.
Raoul Esperas of ABS-CBN News shared a video of the scene at NAIA via his Facebook page:
