29 aliens operating ‘small-scale’ Pogo arrested
A total of 29 foreigners, 23 of them from China and the rest from Myanmar, were arrested on Wednesday after authorities raided a guerrilla-type offshore gaming operation at a private resort in Silang, Cavite, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said.
It discovered the “small-scale” operation, together with the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and Bureau of Immigration based on a tip from an unidentified individual.
The suspects, the PAOCC said, were found to be using laptops and mobile internet in their supposed scamming operations instead of desktops and internet routers to escape detection.
The raid was the first PAOCC operation conducted this year after President Marcos imposed a Dec. 31, 2024 deadline for the shutdown of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) in the country.
While an estimated 400 Pogo hubs have since closed, the PAOCC is monitoring small-scale operations in Northern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, PAOCC Executive Director Gilbert Cruz said earlier this week.
A small-scale Pogo is usually composed of 20 to 50 individuals renting two rooms, usually in resorts, apartments or gated villages, to conduct fraudulent activities.
