More than 2,700 workers, many of them Chinese who were suspected to be victims of human trafficking, were rescued by the police in a self-contained Pogo complex in Las Piñas City early Tuesday. | dexcabalzaINQ /PDI
Citing police surveillance and accounts by two workers, the court said there was probable cause to believe that a violation of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, in relation to Cybercrime Prevention Act, was being committed in the premises of the Pogo complex.Among the rescued foreigners were 604 Chinese, 183 Vietnamese, 134 Malaysians, 137 Indonesians and 81 Thais.
Computers and phones were seized for forensic examination to check if these were also being used for illegal activities, such as crypto scams, love scams and other investment scams. An undetermined amount of cash and several firearms were also seized by the raiding teams. According to Capt. Michelle Sabino, spokesperson for ACG, the rescued foreigners claimed they worked for an online casino, with their shift starting at noon to midnight.
She said only a few workers were allowed to go out of the Pogo complex, with those without proper work papers or documents barred from leaving. “Based on our interviews with the victims, this was similar to our operation in Clark last May where we rescued more than 1,000 foreign nationals, where the victims were recruited online,” Sabino said. INQSubscribe to our daily newsletter
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