Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla says by next Monday his ministry hopes to repatriate the four Japanese nationals, who are believed to be linked to a series of robberies in Japan.

The four suspects are currently being held at an immigration facility in the Philippines.

Japanese police officials have served them with arrest warrants, as they believe the men were previously involved in phone scams in Japan. They asked the authorities in the Philippines to hand them over.

Remulla originally told reporters on Tuesday that two of the suspects would be returned to Japan by this weekend, if everything went well. He also said there was a chance that one of the two would be sent back within the next day or two, if certain conditions were met.

But, Remulla later told reporters that there would not be a handover on Wednesday. He said the ministry is now hoping to repatriate all the suspects by Monday.

Remulla explained that the other two suspects are currently on trial in the Philippines. He said the Justice Ministry is studying the cases and trying to determine how quickly the men can be sent back to Japan.

Remulla admitted that members of a criminal organization appear to have been operating in the detention facility. He said the mobile phones of all four suspects have been confiscated and will be given to Japanese police officials. He noted that one suspect owned six phones.