Manila, April 26 -- The Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Pampanga has intercepted a suspected human trafficker and eight of her victims recruited to work in Israel.

In a Friday news release, the BI's immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) reported that the female trafficker attempted to depart with the victims on board an Emirates airlines flight at the Clark International Airport (CRK) Terminal 2 in the guise of a pilgrimage to the said country last April 23.

According to the victims, they were enticed to work as hospital and hotel cleaners "in a safer part of Israel" with a promised monthly salary of PHP60,000 to PHP80,000.

Last year, the country placed Israel under crisis Alert level 2, wherein only returning ...