875 held in Tarlac POGO hub raid

MANILA, Philippines — At least 875 people, 504 of them foreigners, were rounded up in a raid on a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac yesterday.

Personnel of the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission, Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines swooped down on the compound of Zuan Yuan Technology Inc. in Barangay Anupul at around 1:30 a.m., PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz said in a message on Viber.

A court in Bulacan issued the search warrants.

Cruz said those rounded up included 432 Chinese, 57 Vietnamese, eight Malaysians, three Taiwanese, two Indonesians and two citizens of Rwanda.

An investigation is underway to determine who among those rounded up are suspects and victims.

“They are being interviewed by personnel of the PNP-CIDG,” Cruz said, referring to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

He said the raid was based on information from a former POGO employee that the company was involved in human trafficking and other crimes.

The informant is a Vietnamese who escaped from the facility on Feb. 28, according to a Malaysian who was held against his will at the compound.

Police said three shotguns, a 9mm caliber handgun, two .38-caliber revolvers and bullets were recovered at the scene.

Lawmen said they found scripts being used in love scams, which were also discovered in other POGO firms that were previously raided.