ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 6, 2012) – Philippine authorities have detained 5 Indian nationals who sneaked into a remote southern Muslim province and went on to fly on a passenger plane undetected to Zamboanga City where they were arrested.
The foreigners are being investigated by authorities, but security officials would not say if the Indian nationals have links to terrorist groups.
The 5 men travelled by boat from Sandakan in Malaysia to the neighboring Filipino province of Tawi-Tawi where they took a plane and flew to Zamboanga City on Mindanao Island.
Immigration officials did not release the names of the foreigners and it was unknown how they managed to sneak into Tawi-Tawi and boarded a plane undetected by local authorities.
Local authorities said the foreigners had no passports and other travel documents and only carried a fake temporary Philippine labor permit.
Military authorities said members of the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya had previously used the southern backdoor to sneak in the Philippines and train local terrorists. (Mindanao Examiner)