Japanese wanted for copyright breach nabbed at NAIA

FILE: Facade of Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. (Photo By Mithril Cloud at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday reported the arrest of a Japanese-German-Israeli fugitive wanted by Japanese authorities for infringement of the Japan’s copyright law.

Bobby Raquepo, head of the Bureau’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU), said Romi Hoshino, 28, a.

k.a. Zakay Romi, was apprehended at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on Sunday.

The foreigner was captured on the strength of a mission order issued by BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, following the request of the Embassy of Japan in Manila, who sought the BI’s help in locating and arresting the fugitive.

He added that the operation was conducted in coordination with Tokyo Interpol.

The foreigner was reportedly the manager of “Manga-Mura”, an illegal viewing website of Japanese cartoons, popularly known as Manga, which operated from January 2016 to April 2018.

The Association of Copyrights of Japan estimated Manga-Mura’s cost of damages to be approximately 320 billion yen (USD2.9 billion), which was said to be the worst violation in the history of the Copyright Law of Japan.

“His presence in the country is a risk to public safety and security. We are in close coordination with our foreign counterparts who send us information about criminals who might be hiding in the Philippines. Upon knowledge, we immediately seek, arrest, and deport these fugitives,” Morente said in a statement.

“The Japanese embassy informed us that they will conduct the necessary coordination with the Israeli and German Embassy regarding the fugitive’s deportation to Japan,” he added.

Hoshino will be detained at the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.