180 Chinese detained after anti-trafficking raid in Manila are deported
SENT HOME Thursday’s mass deportation involved Chinese nationals who were arrested in a raid on a Pasay City-based Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in October. They were found to have no working permits and engaged in “online scams.” Photo shows them lining up for predeparture procedures at Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA — The 180 Chinese nationals, who were among the nearly 600 people found inside a Manila compound, raided in October by Philippine authorities for suspected sex-trafficking and online scam operation were deported on Thursday.
During the raid, the police found sex toys, a massage parlor, karaoke rooms, and a restaurant in a building, which was operated by a business that was licensed as an internet gaming company.
Several women were “rescued” during the raid, police said.
READ: DOJ: China refuses to help gov’t deport Pogo workers
Among nearly 600 people found in the compound during the raid were Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Filipino nationals.
The Chinese nationals deported did not have work permits and had been “engaging in online scams,” Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission Undersecretary Gilberto Cruz told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Cruz said more foreigners detained in the raid would be deported in the coming weeks.
International concern has been growing over internet scams in the Asia-Pacific region, often staffed by trafficking victims tricked or coerced into promoting bogus crypto investments.
Philippine Sen. Risa Hontiveros previously warned that “scam call centers” were operating in the Philippines and employing foreigners trafficked into the country.
In its 2023 human trafficking report, the US Department of State said the Philippines “did not vigorously investigate or prosecute labor trafficking crimes that occurred within” the country.
“Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns,” it said. —AFP
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