Top Ten Fugitive Destinations
The Philippines
Another popular Asian locale for fugitives, the Philippines boast a huge, largely English-speaking population of 92 million — making it a perfect place to hide in a crowd. One alleged drug trafficker, James Ricky Perry, evaded North Carolina authorities after failing to appear in court, obtained a false identity, and hightailed it to the Philippines. Perry, whose brash escape earned him a segment on America's Most Wanted, was captured by agents from the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service and the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation on July 1st, 2009, in Calatagan, a beach resort popular with Manila's rich.
Jerome Howard Feldman, who conspired to defraud Florida's Medicaid Program of over $1.3 million, was also captured in the tropical archipelago, as well as Timothy Lantz of Ohio, an FBI search of whose computer revealed over 3,000 child porn images.
PROS: With 7,107 islands, it's easy to keep on the move in the Philippines. Plus, Filipino television, full of soap operas, talk shows and tabloid scandals, is broadcast in Tagalog and English, so hiding in hotels won't get boring.
CONS: Since 1996, when a bilateral extradition treaty between the U.S. and the Philippines was put into place, law enforcement agencies in both countries have cooperated to capture and deport accused criminals who have jumped bail or otherwise evaded prosecution. While extradition is a lengthy process, individuals have the option to waive extradition and return immediately to face charges in America, which may be the better option considering the country's notoriously overcrowded and ill-maintained jails.