Japanese fugitive with POGO link falls

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Wednesday revealed that its operatives collared a 36-year-old Japanese fugitive allegedly linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) based in Cambodia.

NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. identified the suspect as Sasaki Yohei, who was nabbed by a team from the NCRPO and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Barangay Tandang Sora, Quezon City, at about 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday.

Yohei was the subject of a mission order issued by the BI for being an undesirable alien under the Philippine Immigration Law.

Nartatez said the foreigner escaped from an anti-POGO operation launched by Cambodian authorities in 2023 and is a member of a Japanese telecom scam syndicate who came to hide in the Philippines.

He said that based on the request warrant of Naoki Matsuda, chief inspector of Omiya Judicial Police, the suspect is identified as the buyer who purchases daily necessities and water-soluble paper for the group and a man with criminal records such as theft and breaking into a residence.

Yohei is now under the custody of the BI before his possible deportation.