By U.S. News Agency / Asian

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced the arrest of a Japanese fugitive who is wanted for illegal gambling in his country.

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said the 66-yrst-old Takashui Kumamoto was arrested last Feb. 23 at his residence in Barangay Tugatug, Malabon City by elements of the bureau’s fugitive search unit (FSU).

David said he issued the mission order for Kumamoto ‘s arrest at the request of Interpol in Tokyo and the Japanese embassy in Manila . The fugitive is reportedly wanted to stand trial before a summary court in Kanazawa City , Japan which issued a warrant for his arrest last Dec. 9.

“He is the latest addition to our long list of arrested foreign fugitives. And like those who were caught before him, he will be deported, blacklisted and banned from re-entering our country,” David declared.

Atty. Ma. Antonette Mangrobang, BI acting intelligence chief, said Kumamoto was charged with operating a gambling scheme at his home in Kaga City , Ishikawa from Oct. 4 to 6 last year.

The scheme allegedly involved the betting of money on the results of professional baseball games by the gamblers. One of the gamblers, who lost nearly 5.7 million yen, allegedly reported Kumamoto ‘s racket to the authorities, thus resulting in his indictment by the court, Mangrobang added.

BI-FSU head Armelo de Castro, who heads the FSU, said the suspect had been hiding in Manila since Nov. 9 when he arrived as a tourist. De Castro also revealed that Kumamoto was already overstaying when arrested as he did not bother to extend his stay before his tourist visa expired.