DILI, 28 May 2025 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste authorities have once again arrested and detained Filipino fugitive Arnolfo Teves during a joint operation conducted by the Immigration Police and the Public Order Battalion (BOP) of the Timor-Leste National Police (PNTL).
The arrest took place at his residence in Dili on Tuesday, 27 May, at approximately 8:20 p.m. local time.
Teves is set to be returned back to the Philippines today, more than two months after Timor-Leste’s court rejected an extradition request from Philippines authorities in March 2025.
Teves is currently being held at the Immigration Service office within the Interior Ministry in Dili, awaiting deportation.
Teves’ Lawyer, José Ximenes, described his client’s detention as unlawful, claiming authorities carried out the arrest without a valid warrant.
“The arrest carried out by the authorities is inhumane and illegal,” Ximenes told reporters following Teves’ apprehension.
Teves is on the Philippines police’s wanted list after fleeing to evade legal proceedings over murder cases he is allegedly involved in.
He is facing 10 counts of murder, 12 counts of frustrated murder, and four counts of attempted murder before the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 51.
Teves, who flew to Timor-Leste in 2023 to seek political asylum, was labeled by the Philippines’ Anti-Terrorism Council as a terrorist.
He was arrested on March 21, 2024, by the Scientific and Criminal Investigation Police in Areia Branca, Dili.
TATOLI
