Cops rescue over 2,700 Pinoys, foreigners in anti-human trafficking raids in Las Piñas POGO compound
Police have rescued a total of 2,714 human trafficking victims, including a total of 1,186 foreigners from various parts of Asia and Africa, during a raid on a suspected Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) facility in Las Piñas City.
Police Capt. Michelle Sabino, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG), said the operation was carried out based on the search warrants for possible violation of anti-human trafficking in relation to Cybercrime Prevention Act.
The raids were conducted in seven buildings on Alabang-Zapote Road in Barangay Almanza Uno, according to Sabino.
In a police report, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said the rescued foreigners were 600 Chinese, 183 Vietnamese, 137 Indonesians, 134 Malaysians, 81 Thais, 21 Taiwanese, five Singaporean and five Myanmar nationals.
Also rescued were seven Nigerians, four Yemenis, two Pakistanis, an Indian national, a Somali, a Sudanese, one Iranian, and three other foreigners from Africa.
The NCRPO report also disclosed that a total of 1,528 Filipinos were also rescued.
The same report revealed that the subject of the search warrants were several foreigners and Filipino officials of the alleged POGOs.
“All rescued persons were documented for booking and possible repatriation,” the NCRPO report read.
Sabino, for her part, said several firearms were also found inside the compound.