Authorities raid Lapu-Lapu hotel, uncover POGO
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The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bureau of Immigration (BI), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) confirmed that a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) was operating at the Tourist Garden Hotel in Barangay Agus, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, on 31 August, 2024.
PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said three scam farms were found in three buildings in the hotel.
"Yes, this is 100 percent an illegal POGO. Illegal po ito kasi wala pong POGO may lisensya sa Cebu province. Lahat ng nakita namin dito [ay] enough evidence [ng] cyber-crime offense for facilitating cybercrime gambling," Casio said.
NBI-7 Regional Director, Atty. Renan Oliva, stated, "Initially, the primary concern was a violation of immigration laws, but we discovered that they were involved in scams, so we are processing each of the foreigners' identities, including those rescued."
He added that those engaged in POGO operations in Pampanga, who had recently been raided without being charged, moved to Cebu to continue their fraudulent schemes.
"We are here to rescue the Indonesian nationals, but upon arrival, we caught them in flagrante delicto, in the act of running scam operations. We found three scam farms run by Chinese, Indonesian, and Myanmar nationals," Casio disclosed.
The operatives broke into the hotel and discovered more than a hundred individuals involved in various scams. Computers believed to be used in love scams and other internet-based scams were seized inside the hotel.
Casio said that after receiving information from the central government regarding complaints from the Indonesian government, they immediately set the rescue operation in coordination with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The POGO operation occupied three floors of the hotel, with bars and restaurants on the lower floor to deter workers from leaving the premises.
Oliva mentioned that the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor's Office was investigating the case of three Indonesian nationals who had escaped and filed a complaint against their employers on 21 July, 2024, alleging they were briefly illegally detained.
Earlier, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan had said there were no POGOs in the city.
