11 people caught with over P441 million at Cebu airport; incident raises concerns about possible poll-related ‘interference'
Nine foreigners and two Filipinos were arrested after being discovered with more than P441 million in cash at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
Citing Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission executive director Gilbert Cruz, The Philippine STAR reported that the suspects were caught Friday evening, May 9 at the security screening area of the general aviation terminal.
According to Philippine National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, the foreigners landed in Cebu at 9:00 a.m. on Friday and headed to a casino.
The group went back to the airport later in the day. They were supposed to ride a private plane bound for Manila, but got arrested at 11:30 p.m. after security personnel discovered P441,922,542 as well as $168,730 and 1,000 Hong Kong dollars inside their seven trolley bags. Per a Philippine News Agency report, none of them was able to provide documentation for their attempt to transport the undeclared cash.
Aside from two Filipinos, six of the suspects are from China, one is from Malaysia, one is from Indonesia, and one is from Kazakhstan.
One of the Chinese nationals—Wu Song—has a red notice alert at the International Criminal Police Organization for fraud, according to Fajardo. Two of them, Li Fei and Chen Hao, have previously been slapped with arrest warrants for different crimes.
Fajardo noted it’s a violation of the Commission on Elections Resolution No. 11104, which keeps the transportation of bundles of cash during the election season regulated. It states that one cannot possess, transport, or carry cash amounting to more than P500,000 in public places two days before and on poll day unless they’re authorized.
The STAR reported that authorities are now looking into the possibility that the incident could be linked to poll-related "interference" as it took place days before the May 12 elections.
Per the PNA, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said the seizure of cash raised concerns about illegal activities like vote-buying and money laundering.
"The involvement of multiple foreign nationals strongly suggests the alarming possibility of foreign interference in our sovereign electoral process," the AFP said in a statement on Sunday, May 11.
The armed forces added that they will continue to "provide full support" to the ongoing probe.
"We laud the vigilance and rapid response of the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies, whose actions may have averted a significant threat to our democracy," they said.
