By Ariel Fernandez

Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrested a suspected human trafficker caught trying to escort out of the country three victims illegally recruited to work in the European island nation of Malta.

BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said the suspect and his victims attempted to board an Eva Air flight to Malta at the NAIA terminal 1 last Tuesday when they were intercepted by members of the bureau’s travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU).

The names of the three Filipino women rescued were not divulged as the law prohibits the public disclosure of names of victims in human trafficking cases.

According to Glenn Ford Comia, of the BI NAIA, the victims initially claimed they were on a business trip and that they are employees of a recruitment agency

The immigration officer who processed them doubted the purpose of their travel, thus they were referred to the TCEU for secondary inspection,” Comia said.

When interviewed by TCEU staff, the three victims admitted that they were not employees of the recruitment agency, and pointed to their other companion as the one who recruited them to work as housekeepers in Malta.

They each paid the recruiter P310,000 for their placement fees and travel costs, the women said.

All four were turned over to the custody of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for investigation and filing of appropriate charges against the recruiter.