MANILA, Philippines — Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) intercepted a 21-year-old woman, suspected of being a victim of a mail-order bride scheme. In a report submitted Thursday to Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado, officers from the Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) said the woman passenger was intercepted at NAIA Terminal 3 as she was preparing to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Guangzhou, China. The passenger claimed she was traveling to Guangdong province for language studies, citing enrollment at a public higher vocational engineering college. However, authorities found significant inconsistencies between her statements and the documents presented. The woman eventually admitted that her enrollment was fraudulent and that she was traveling for an arranged marriage set up by an agent with an unidentified individual, for which she was promised ₱50,000. “This attempt exposes how traffickers now use fraudulent study programs abroad as a cover for their illegal activities,” said Viado.