Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 9) — The remaining two Japanese nationals wanted for their suspected involvement in a robbery ring in Japan were deported Wednesday evening.
Japanese deportees Yuki Watanabe and Tomonobu Saito boarded their flight back to Japan at 11:30 p.m. while Fujita Toshiya and Imamura Kiyoto flew Tuesday morning.
Among the four individuals is the supposed mastermind alias \”Luffy” who, according to Japan media, had been sending instructions through a smartphone from a detention center in Manila.
The Philippine government earlier vowed to expedite the process of deporting the nationals allegedly linked to a string of robberies in the East Asian nation – one of which resulted in the murder of a 90-year-old woman.
Although the fugitives were tagged as prime suspects, Department of Justice spokesperson Mico Clavano said it is still possible that “Luffy” is not one of the four deportees.
“It could be one of the four. It’s possible also that it’s not one of the four. We need the Japanese government to be the one to identify who he is,” Clavano said.
The DOJ, however, does not expect this issue to be raised in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s meet with Japanese leaders in his current five-day state visit to the country.
