Philippine police arrested more than 450 people in a raid on an allegedly Chinese-run offshore gaming operator in Manila, the country’s anti-organised crime commission has said.
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Initial interrogations suggested the suburban site had been operating as a scam centre, targeting victims in China and India with sports betting and investment schemes, the commission said after the Thursday raid, which saw 137 Chinese nationals detained.
“We arrested around five Chinese bosses,” commission chief Gilberto Cruz said on Friday, adding they faced potential trafficking charges.
Banned by President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr last year, Philippine online gaming operators, or Pogos, are said to be used as cover by organised crime groups for human trafficking, money laundering, online fraud, kidnappings and even murder.
“This raid proves that the previous Pogo workers are still trying to continue their scamming activities despite the ban,” Cruz said.
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He previously said that about 21,000 Chinese nationals have continued to operate smaller-scale scam operations in the country since the online gaming ban.