‘Boying’ cuts Manila-Japan robbery connection
The DoJ had the iPhones of the four BI Japanese detainees seized to stop them from directing robberies in several prefectures in their home country
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla yesterday said they have confiscated six smartphones from four Japanese who were allegedly directing the commission of robberies in their home country while inside the Bureau of Immigration detention facility in Taguig City.
Remulla said he has met with Manila embassy officials of Japan during which the latter coursed a formal request to the Department of Justice to have the four deported to Tokyo.
As an initial action, the DoJ chief said he ordered a probe on the four’s activities while having their iPhones seized and subjected to digital forensic examination.
Japanese embassy media relations officer Akihiko Hitomi said they sent the deportation request to the DoJ on Monday, 30 January. Hitomi said they could not provide the names of the four.
News reports in Japan claimed at least 14 robberies in several of its prefectures were directed from a detention facility in the Philippines using app-based encryption.
Remulla said he would not tolerate criminal activities inside the jail of the BI, an agency under the DoJ like the Bureau of Corrections and the National Bureau of Investigation.
“If they (BI officials) will be found to have tolerated them using cellphones, they will be punished. The phones should be used for lawyer and family calls only,” Remulla said.
The NBI is conducting a probe on the case, Remulla said, including to determine if other cases against the Japanese had been concocted to stop their being deported.
The alleged masterminds, identified in Japanese media as Imamura Kiyoto and Yuki Watanabe, were arrested respectively in 2019 and 2021. The Japanese police said the two could be sharing the alias “Luffy,” after a character in the Japanese manga “One Piece.”