The National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) arrested 17 Taiwanese fugitives on Saturday, including one female suspect, for conducting romance scam activities in a high-end subdivision in Cebu City.

Ranier dela Cruz of the NBI Special Task Force disclosed to the media that six of the arrested individuals were members of the Four Seas Gang in Taiwan and had outstanding warrants of arrest there.

These six are facing charges related to drugs, money laundering, and financial conversion.

He added that they coordinated with the Taiwan Police to fast-track the operation.

During the raid, the NBI discovered computers being used to run a "romance scam" using scripts and spiels to lure victims, who were also Taiwanese nationals.

Taiwan Police Attaché Matt Shen thanked the NBI for their swift action.

"In Taiwan, over the past year, the average amount of money lost to scams each week has reached 1 billion NT dollars, which is equivalent to 1.7 billion pesos a week," Shen said.

He cited that the NBI's swift response prevented harm to potential victims.

Lawyer Van Angluben, the executive director of the NBI Cybercrime Division, said the operation began in Manila.

One of the suspects was tracked down after booking a flight from Manila to Cebu.

Local intelligence counterparts were immediately tapped, which led to the discovery of the operations being transferred to Cebu.

"Once we establish that there is an organized syndicate involving these Taiwanese nationals, as well as some of our fellow Filipinos, we will also be filing charges," Angluben said.

NBI agents consider the fugitives to be partly operating as a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) hub.

"This could possibly be an offshoot of large POGO operations in Cebu and Manila, and we have yet to determine why these foreign nationals are still here, even though there are already instructions that by December 31, 2024, they should have left the Philippines," Angluben stressed.

Charges filed against the fugitives include computer-related forgery under RA 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, and social engineering schemes under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).

The 17 Taiwanese nationals are detained at the NBI Central Visayas Regional Office (CEVRO).