Two passport fixers fall in DFA sting operation

Two passport fixers were arrested after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) conducted a sting operation in southern Metro Manila last week. The DFA said Tuesday its Office of Intelligence and Security Services (OISS) caught the two near the DFA Office of Consular Affairs (DFA-OCA) along Macapagal Avenue in Parañaque. The DFA did not name the arrested fixers but said the operation stemmed from a request for assistance by a female passport applicant in the consular office at 5:00 p.m. on May 18. Entrapment operation In a news release posted on its website, the DFA said the applicant told DFA security officers that she was afraid to leave the premises because the two passport fixers she dealt with before were waiting for her outside the building for an additional payment of P5,000. An entrapment operation was immediately conducted, where the applicant met with the fixers at a nearby convenience store. The police arrested the suspects after they received the marked money that the applicant handed over to them. The two suspects were turned over to the Parañaque City Police Station. Modus operandi The investigation revealed that the passport applicant was introduced to one of the fixers on May 4. The fixer promised to take care of her passport processing in exchange for P6,500. On the same day, the applicant gave her passport to the fixer and paid P5,000. However, two days later, the fixer told the applicant the DFA did not approve her application. When she demanded the return of her money, the fixer told her that her passport is still inside the DFA and it would be difficult to retrieve it immediately. "The fixer tried to convince again the applicant to pay P15,000 for quick processing of her passport. The applicant bargained and agreed to pay P10,000 with the condition that she will only give the money right after her passport would be processed," the DFA said. On May 18, they met again at a restaurant across the DFA-OCA building. Through a legitimate individual appointment she made online, the applicant managed to successfully file for the renewal of her passport. However, she was afraid to go near the DFA-OCA because the passport fixers were waiting for her, and then decided to seek the help of the DFA authorities. Warning against fixers "The public is strongly advised against seeking the help of fixers," the DFA said. The DFA-OCA, the DFA-OISS, and local police authorities, are exerting efforts to apprehend fixers. The DFA urged the public to report any activities related to passport fixing to the DFA-OCA and the DFA-OISS. - VVP, GMA News