Two Chi­nese na­tion­als who were work­ing in the coun­try il­le­gal­ly were each or­dered to pay a $500 fine and are fac­ing de­por­ta­tion.

One of them, Haigiao Liang, was slapped an ad­di­tion­al fine of $5,000 for en­ter­ing the coun­try il­le­gal­ly.

Liang, 22, and Weigao Feng, 28, of Guang­dong, Chi­na, were charged sep­a­rate­ly, but both plead­ed guilty in the San Fer­nan­do Mag­is­trates Court.

Liang had plead­ed guilty on a pre­vi­ous oc­ca­sion and the facts were tak­en in his mat­ter.

Yes­ter­day, with the as­sis­tance of a Span­ish in­ter­preter, he told Mag­is­trate Ava Van­den­burg-Bai­ley he first went to Venezuela, but the en­vi­ron­ment there was so bad that he chose to come here by boat. Asked why he did not go through im­mi­gra­tion, Liang said he knew the boat man.

Out­lin­ing the facts in Feng's case yes­ter­day, court pros­e­cu­tor Sgt Cha­nar­dath Jhilmit said around 4 pm on March 27, Sgt Joseph Cor­raspe of the Im­mi­gra­tion In­ves­ti­ga­tions Unit in Port-of-Spain CID along with oth­er po­lice of­fi­cers were mak­ing in­quiries in Mara­bel­la.

His in­for­ma­tion led him to a restau­rant and bar on Union Road where he saw Feng serv­ing drinks to cus­tomers and re­ceiv­ing pay­ment.

Feng was de­tained and tak­en to the Im­mi­gra­tion Of­fice where checks re­vealed that Feng en­tered the coun­try as a vis­i­tor; he was nei­ther a cit­i­zen nor a res­i­dent.

He was tak­en to the de­ten­tion cen­tre in Aripo pend­ing fur­ther in­quiries. Fur­ther checks re­vealed he was nev­er is­sued a work per­mit. Feng was sub­se­quent­ly charged. With the as­sis­tance of a Chi­nese in­ter­preter, Feng told the mag­is­trate he did not know how to ap­ply for a work per­mit.

Feng said he came here on a va­ca­tion, but the at­mos­phere was good and the wages were high­er than in Chi­na so he de­cid­ed to work.

Even if they paid the fines, the mag­is­trate told them, they would not be re­leased. "Im­mi­gra­tion will be tak­ing them," she said.