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Batam authorities deport Japanese Interpol fugitive
Batam authorities deported on Tuesday Yusuke Yamazaki, a Japanese national on the Interpol Blue Notice, following his arrest in January in the Riau Islands.
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I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram (second left, seated), the head of the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Riau Islands Office, addresses a press conference on Feb. 21, 2024 in Batam about local authorities capturing Yusuke Yamazaki (second right, rear, in yellow jacket). Barelang Police arrested the Japanese fugitive on the Interpol Blue Notice while he was attempting to cross illegally into Malaysia on Jan. 31. (The Jakarta Post/Fadli)
Y
usuke Yamazaki, 43, was deported on Tuesday from Batam, Riau Islands, after Barelang Police arrested the Japanese national listed on the Interpol Blue Notice as he was trying to cross into Malaysia illegally on Jan. 31, along with several Indonesian migrant workers.
An Interpol Blue Notice is an international request to Interpol member states that seeks information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.
Batam Immigration Office head Samuel Toba said on Tuesday that it had coordinated with the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta and the Japanese Consulate General in Medan on Yamazaki’s deportation.
Samuel added that Yamazaki was transported from Batam on Citilink flight QG943 to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, from where he was deported on Tuesday evening on Japan Airlines flight JL726.
Yamazaki was captured in January when several Barelang Police officers were patrolling Bulan Island, southeast of Batam Island, when they spotted a boat carrying five men and two women en route to Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Among them was Yamazaki, who held a Japanese passport bearing the name Hajime Hatanaka, which the officers determined was fake. They later discovered Yamazaki’s real identity, and that Interpol had issued a Blue Notice for him in connection with a $90 million (Rp 1.4 trillion) investment scam in his home country.
Samuel said Yamazaki first entered Indonesia using a visit visa in 2021, when he was not on the Interpol Blue Notice. In July 2021, he applied for a temporary stay permit to work in the country. (dre)
