MANILA -- The "Luffy" figure suspected of overseeing a string of robberies nationwide allegedly controlled the operation in Japan while being detained at an immigration facility in the Philippines.
The Philippine immigration bureau's Bicutan detention center, where Luffy is being held, is located about 13 kilometers southeast of the presidential palace in Manila. The facility confines foreigners who are expected to be deported for such reasons as an illegal stay.
The center is surrounded by 4-meter-high walls and barbed wire. Four Japanese men are among the detainees, including Yuki Watanabe, who has gone by the name Luffy in the past, and Kiyoto Imamura. Arrest warrants have been issued for them on suspicion of theft and other crimes related to special fraud unconnected to the recent robberies.
