Suspected trafficking victims rescued in Pogo hub raid
INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — More than 2,700 workers, many of them Chinese who were suspected to be victims of human trafficking, were rescued by the police in a self-contained Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) complex in Las Piñas City early Tuesday.
Armed with five warrants to search, seize and examine computer data, operatives of the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG), Intelligence Group and National Capital Region Police Office raided the seven buildings of a Pogo hub on Alabang-Zapote Road in Barangay Almanza Uno.
The buildings serve as the living quarters and working stations of employees of Xinchuang Network Technology Inc. (formerly known as Hong Tai), one of the 111 Pogo service providers accredited by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).
Surveillance
The warrants were issued on Monday by Las Piñas Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Elizabeth Yu Guray against Quiha Lui, Liangfei Chen, Jimmy Lin and Abbey Ng, who were considered as the owner, maintainers, facilitators and managers of Xinchuang. Also named respondents in the warrants were Xinchuang incorporators Danica Andres Mensah, Oliver Ong, Divina Trillanes and Daisy Vidal Cidro.
Citing police surveillance and accounts by two workers, the court said there was probable cause to believe that a violation of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, in relation to Cybercrime Prevention Act, was being committed in the premises of the Pogo complex.
Of the 2,724 workers rescued, a total of 1,190 were foreigners, while the rest were Filipinos.
Among the rescued foreigners were 604 Chinese, 183 Vietnamese, 134 Malaysians, 137 Indonesians and 81 Thais.
Computers and phones were seized for forensic examination to check if these were also being used for illegal activities, such as crypto scams, love scams and other investment scams. An undetermined amount of cash and several firearms were also seized by the raiding teams.
According to Capt. Michelle Sabino, spokesperson for ACG, the rescued foreigners claimed they worked for an online casino, with their shift starting at noon to midnight.
She said only a few workers were allowed to go out of the Pogo complex, with those without proper work papers or documents barred from leaving.
“Based on our interviews with the victims, this was similar to our operation in Clark last May where we rescued more than 1,000 foreign nationals, where the victims were recruited online,” Sabino said.
