MANILA – A Chinese fugitive found to be heading a shabu laboratory in Rizal was recently arrested, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported on Friday. Identified as Shi Chunfang, 40, the fugitive was nabbed in a residential facility Taytay, Rizal on December 14.
The foreigner is wanted by the Chinese police for kidnapping and has a standing warrant issued by the Public Security Bureau of Jinjiang City in 2024. The BI was also informed by the Chinese embassy that Shi’s passport had already been cancelled, making him an undocumented undesirable alien.
Shi is likewise the subject of a blacklist order issued in January, and a watchlist order in July, for being an undesirable alien. Arrested with him was Shuguang Fan, 37, the subject of an order to leave issued by the BI in 2023 for his prolonged and unexplained stay in the country.
On the other hand, Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado slammed inaccurate reports saying that Shi was released and later arrested by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. “This fugitive remains in BI custody, after we received government intelligence reports that he is involved in the production of methamphetamine in the Philippines,” he said in a statement.
Viado said they were informed that “Shi is a kingpin in the illicit drug industry, heading a shabu laboratory while posing as an ordinary citizen,” and that his expedited deportation was requested by the Chinese embassy, hence he was scheduled to be deported on December 16.
The BI Commissioner, however, said that upon receiving the information, Shi’s deportation was cancelled for him to face further investigation and possible local cases in the Philippines. “We cannot allow this person to just leave the country and not face his crimes here. This is a clear attempt to escape liability, and we will not be complicit to that,” he stressed.
Viado also noted that they have coordinated the matter with the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
“The cancellation of the implementation of his deportation will ensure that he will not evade justice. We are now in close coordination with the Philippine National Police for the possible filing of criminal cases against Shi,” he assured.
The subject was returned to the custody of the BI and will remain inside the BI facility in Muntinlupa City. (PNA)