Philippine authorities raided a suspected illegal online gaming and cyberscam complex in a central province and took into custody more than 160 people — including two Taiwanese — on suspicion of committing Internet-based crimes, officials said on Sunday.
The raid on Saturday by more than 100 government agents, backed by military intelligence, on a resort compound in Lapu-Lapu City was part of an ongoing crackdown after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordered a ban in July on widespread — and mostly Chinese-run — online gaming operations that cater mostly to clients in China, where gambling is banned.
Photo: Philippine Bureau of Immigration / AP
Marcos said then that the massive illegal gambling operations have ignored Philippine laws with large-scale violations of regulations and also committed other crimes, including financial scams, human trafficking, torture, kidnappings and murder.
The raid at the Tourist Garden Resort, which has 10 buildings with swimming pools, karaoke bars and restaurants, came after the Indonesian Embassy in Manila requested the rescue of eight Indonesians who were reportedly forced to work in the online gaming hub, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said.
At least 162 foreign nationals “were found working in three separate scam farms within the compound," the commission said without elaborating.
Such crimes include fraudulent love, gaming and investment schemes online that have defrauded victims of large amounts of money, Philippine officials said.
The two Taiwanese, 83 Chinese, 70 Indonesians, six Myanmar nationals and a Malaysian are to be flown to Manila to face an investigation by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration and possible deportation, it added.
The owner of the hotel compound was arrested and could face criminal complaints, including for harboring illegally staying foreigners, the commission and immigration officials said.
“We will suggest to the authorities to file cases against resort owners who allow their properties to be used by illegal aliens in their covert operations,” Tansingco said. “This will serve as a warning to those who might attempt to start illegal online gambling operations.”
Marcos’ move to ban the Chinese-run online gambling outfits — estimated to number more than 400 across the Philippines and believed to be employing tens of thousands of Chinese and Southeast Asian nationals — was welcomed by Beijing.
It has led to the shutdown of several sprawling complexes where authorities suspect thousands of Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesians and others mostly from Southeast Asia have been illegally recruited and forced to work in oppressive conditions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing
RSS