DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 14 Aug) — The National Bureau of Investigation – Southeastern Mindanao Regional Office (NBI-SEMRO) filed charges on Wednesday against eight Chinese nationals arrested in a raid on an illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub inside a residential subdivision in Buhangin here.
Speaking during a press conference at Royal Mandaya Hotel on Wednesday, NBI-SEMRO director Arcelito Albao said the Aug. 12 operation targeted a house on Gardenia Street in Montclair Highlands in Buhangin that had been converted into a “clandestine” or a secret POGO facility.
The suspects, six men and two women, are now in NBI custody and will be turned over to the Bureau of Immigration after legal proceedings.
Albao said the NBI was alerted to this specific POGO hub by a report from a resident who observed many Chinese nationals coming and going, “often loud or fighting.”
While the contract of lease for the property dated back to April this year, the NBI-SEMRO did not have specific information on when the POGO operation itself started
With the cooperation of the homeowners’ association, agents entered the property and found computers and phones used for online gambling.
“Hindi namin alam kung magkano yung amount ng transactions kasi hindi namin nahuli yung mga recruiter na allegedly involved dito,” Albao said.
He said the suspects admitted to operating a POGO during interviews and that the NBI investigators will subpoena other individuals, including the property owner.
Authorities seized 10 desktop computers and several mobile phones from the site.
Albao said all seized devices will undergo forensic examination, though interpreting the data is a challenge because the systems use Chinese characters and the transactions are routed overseas.
He warned that illegal POGO operators have shifted to working in smaller groups in residential areas to evade detection.
After the ban on POGO, Albao said that they discovered POGO operators have reorganized into smaller groups of 10 to 20 persons to avoid immediate attention, making them “harder to monitor and track.”
In a statement released in its Facebook page Wednesday evening, NBI Director Jaime B. Santiago said the operation reflects the bureau’s determination to fully dismantle offshore gambling operations in the country.
“This is part of our continuing campaign to protect our communities from the crimes that often accompany illegal online gaming, such as cybercrime, money laundering, and human trafficking,” Santiago said.
December last year, 59 workers of an illegal POGO hub were arrested in a raid conducted by NBI-SEMRO operatives at a warehouse in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
NBI operatives conducted a surveillance for three days before the operation and noticed some Chinese nationals going in and out of the warehouse, which was once a storage facility for agricultural inputs owned by a Filipino businessman.
On July 22, 2024, President Marcos declared a nationwide ban on POGOs during his State of the Nation Address.
In November last year, Malacañang issued Executive Order No. 74, which immediately prohibited all POGOs or internet gaming licensees and offshore gaming operations across the country, as well as the application for and renewal of their licenses. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
