Camanava cybersex ring busted; 5 nabbed

THE PHILIPPINE National Police has busted an online prostitution ring involving transsexuals operating in the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela) area in Metro Manila.

In a series of raids late Thursday night, the PNP Anticybercrime Group (ACG) arrested Dennis Medina Muñoz a.k.a. “Tisay Solis Muñoz,” Jerry Navarro Monge a.k.a. “Apple,” Anthony Mendeja, Mar Anthony Gonzales and Kien Vincent Parfan.

They were apprehended following a raid on several houses believed to be operating as cybersex dens on Pascual and Kahunari Streets in Barangay San Jose, Navotas City; Daang Hari in Navotas City; and Mallari Street in Barangay Ibaba, Malabon City.

In a media advisory on Saturday, the PNP-ACG said the raid on the suspected cybersex dens—a criminal offense under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012—was based on search warrants issued by Manila Judge Reynaldo Alhambra.

PNP-ACG acting director Senior Supt. Edwin Roque said that those arrested were caught in the act of performing lascivious acts online for pornographic “pay-per-view” websites.

He added that the websites’ clients were usually foreigners who paid for the lewd online shows through credit card.

Confiscated from the suspects were computers, laptops, cell phones, web cameras, flash drives, ATM cards, routers, beauty kits, costumes, condoms, sex toys, fake ID cards, and pocket Wi-Fis.

Roque said the suspects had been charged in the Department of Justice. They remain in the custody of the PNP-ACG while waiting for the prosecutor’s action on the charges filed against them.

Meanwhile, in a press briefing on Wednesday at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, the ACG reported a rapid increase in cybercrime cases in the Philippines over the past two years.

ACG spokesperson Supt. Jay Guillermo, in a presentation, showed that last month alone, they received 103 cybercrime complaints.

This was nearly double the number of complaints the ACG received for September 2014 with only 53 cases. When the ACG was activated in 2013, it fielded just 14 complaints during the same month, Guillermo’s presentation showed.

The top complaints the ACG fielded in the last two years dealt with online scams, threats, libel, identity theft and hacking cases.

Hacking complaints in September 2014 as compared to September this year, in particular, have tripled, from only two to six.

Online libel complaints also went up this September compared to the same month last year, from 12 to 29.

Only one complaint, however, has gone to court after the complainant managed to identify the perpetrator. “During forensics, we established evidence on his computer that he [posted] the message,” Guillermo said.