Police Forcibly Repatriate 49 Suspects from the Philippines: "Largest Operation from a Single Country"

Largest-Ever Repatriation of Economic Crime Suspects from the Philippines
National Police Agency Sends Strong Message:
"There Is Nowhere Left to Hide for Fugitives Abroad"

The National Police Agency announced on September 3 that it had forcibly repatriated 49 suspects who had fled to the Philippines, returning them to Korea all at once.

This repatriation marks the largest operation to return fugitives from a single country at the same time. Among those repatriated, 25 were involved in fraud crimes such as voice phishing, 17 in cybercrimes such as illegal gambling operations, 3 in violent crimes including organized crime, and one each for embezzlement, violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, violations of the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act, and violations of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.

A total of 45 of the suspects had Interpol Red Notices issued against them, and there were 154 warrants in total issued by domestic investigative agencies. The average age of those repatriated was 39, and their average period on the run was three years and six months. The longest fugitive had managed to evade capture in the Philippines for as long as 16 years.

Their fraudulent activities resulted in a total of 1,322 victims, with combined damages amounting to approximately 60.5 billion won. The gambling websites operated by suspects charged with illegal gambling had a transaction volume reaching 10.7 trillion won.

A representative from the National Police Agency stated, "Through this large-scale repatriation operation, we have sent a clear message to criminals attempting to use foreign countries as a refuge to escape the law: there is nowhere left to hide." The representative added, "We will continue to relentlessly pursue and apprehend fugitives abroad, restore damages to victims, and do our utmost to make Korea a safer country."