The Bureau of Immigration (BI) effectively dismantled the operation of the notorious JP Dragon crime syndicate in the Philippines following the deportation of six members on Wednesday.

“The deportation of the members of the JP Dragon group means their operations have been dismantled,” BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said as he lauded the deportation of six Japanese fugitives.

"The collapse of their fraud operations in the country shows that we will not tolerate the presence of foreign syndicates that exploit our people and undermine our laws," he added.

The six Japanese fugitives were identified as Hiraki Ishikawa, 46; Tsubasa Amano, 30; Akira Sambonchiku, 26; Naoto Matsumoto, 36; Rintaro Yamane, 28 and Masato Morihiro, 38 left the warden's facility of the Bureau of Immigration around 7 am.

They departed Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 on a morning flight of Japan Airlines to Tokyo.

The bureau said the names of the six Japanese fugitives have been included in its blacklist, effectively barring their re-entry to the Philippines.

It can be recalled that the Japanese nationals were arrested on May 21 by the BI’s fugitive search unit (FSU) in two separate operations in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan and Ermita, Manila.

Yamane and Morihiro were arrested in a condominium unit along Adriatico St. in Ermita, while the rest were found in a residential area along Quirino Highway in Bulacan.

The Japanese fugitives were identified by authorities from Japan to be members of the notorious ‘JP Dragon’ group, who were wanted in their home country for large-scale fraud.

BI said the syndicate is implicated to be involved in a range of illegal activities, mostly fraud, targeting senior citizens in Japan.

"Their modus is to impersonate authorities to deceive victims into giving large sums of money. The syndicate allegedly stole ATM cards and posed as law enforcers to harass and deceive their elder victims in surrendering bank cards and other banking information under the pretext of a police investigation," the Bureau stressed.

The BI said a summary court in Fukuoka issued arrest warrants against five of them last March 5, due to charges of theft that were filed against them, while Matsumoto was found to be an overstaying alien." Robina Asido/DMS