Another Japanese fugitive linked to the “Luffy” group, which is behind a series of thefts since 2022, was arrested by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Pampanga on Monday.

The fugitive, identified as 29-year-old Yuhei Tsukita, was arrested by the BI and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in a joint operation in Fields Avenue, Balibago, Angeles City at 4 pm.

Eleven other members of the Luffy gang were deported to Japan starting 2023.

“We only had a confidential informant, which is why we were able to track where he was hiding. And it was identified that he is one of the members of the Luffy group syndicate we have been searching for,” BI Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) Chief Rendel Sy said in a television interview.

“This Luffy group syndicate is said to have set up an office here where they scammed senior citizens in Japan. They take the ATMs of their victims. In one incident, one of their victims in Japan even died,” he added.

The BI said that according to their database, the Japanese national has an active derogatory record for being a fugitive of justice.

Tsukita is now detained at the BI’s detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa.

Citing a report by Chief Consul Makino of the Embassy of Japan, the BI said that Tsukita is an undesirable and overstaying alien who poses a risk to public safety and security.

The Tokyo Summary Court issued a warrant of arrest against him on October 27, 2022 for theft in violation of Article 235 of the Japanese Penal Code.

According to the BI, Tsukita and his accomplice stole more than eight pieces of ATM cards by pretending to be law enforcers to deceive their victims into surrendering their cards under the guise of a police investigation.

Over 724,000 yen was supposedly stolen through illegal withdrawals from the cards.

“Around 20 (members) are at large,” Sy told The Daily Manila Shimbun in a Viber message.

The BI has been deporting Japanese nationals linked to the “Luffy” crime syndicate since 2023 and around 11 were deported in 2024. Jaspearl Tan/DMS