MANILA — Operatives of the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) arrested a 47-year-old Japanese national believed to be a member of the notorious “Luffy” crime syndicate during an operation in Angeles City, Pampanga.

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado identified the suspect as Ohnishi Kentaro, who was apprehended along Friendship Highway, Barangay Cutcut, in coordination with the Philippine National Police.

Ohnishi is wanted in Japan for theft, with a warrant issued by the Tokyo Summary Court in 2022. Japanese authorities said Ohnishi and his accomplices posed as police officers to deceive elderly victims into handing over their ATM cards and personal details, which they later used to make unauthorized withdrawals.

The “Luffy” group, named after the alias used by its ringleader in messaging apps, has been implicated in large-scale theft and fraud schemes that reportedly amassed over ¥1 billion in illicit proceeds.

Ohnishi has been tagged as an undesirable alien and will remain in BI custody while undergoing deportation proceedings.

The arrest, Viado said, is in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to ensure foreign fugitives are captured, deported, and barred from re-entering the Philippines.