High-tech jueteng operation discovered in Santiago City

SANTIAGO CITY — Even cyberspace is no longer spared from the ingenuity of jueteng operators in carrying out their illegal activities.

Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) based here, discovered the high-tech operation of jueteng maintainers here who now use the Internet to disseminate the winning number combinations.

According to Chief Inspector Archibald Afan, team leader of the 2nd CIDG, the maintainer stays at a designated Internet cafe to wait for the result of the daily draw sent to him through a cellphone text messages by cabos. Then he would send this to a certain e-mail address.

The CIDG personnel, however, has yet to discover the e-mail address where the winning number combinations are being sent to and why they need to email it.

The CIDG team leader said that the high-tech operation was tipped off by owners of Internet cafes, which jueteng maintainers have been frequenting recently.

"With the help of these concerned Internet joint owners, we have discovered this strategy which really feign the illegal activity of the jueteng operators," said Afan.

The Internet joints used by jueteng maintainers in operating the illegal numbers game have been identified and are now under surveillance.

Meanwhile, the joint anti-jueteng operation of the CIDG and the Santiago City Police Office, has so far netted some 50 jueteng collectors and cabos.

According to Superintendent Valfrey Tabian, city police director, the all-out campaign against jueteng is in compliance with the directives of newly appointed DILG Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Reports from the regional intelligence office of the Cagayan Valley Regional Police Office 2 showed that Santiago City, along with the towns of Ilagan, Cabagan and Cauayan City, are known as the jueteng centers in Isabela.