Philippine authorities raided a suspected illegal online gaming and cyberscam complex in a central province and took into custody more than 160 people — mostly Chinese and Indonesians — who were committing Internet-based crimes, officials said yesterday.
The raid on Saturday by more than 100 Philippine government agents, backed by military intelligence, on a resort compound in Lapu-Lapu city was part of an ongoing crackdown after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordered a ban in July on widespread — and mostly Chinese-run — online gaming operations that cater mostly to clients in China, where illegal gambling is banned.
Marcos then said that the massive illegal gambling operations have ignored Philippine laws with large-scale violations of regulations.
Photo: AP
These operations committed other crimes, including financial scams, human trafficking, torture, kidnappings and murder, he said.
The raid at the Tourist Garden Resort, which has 10 buildings with swimming pools, karaoke bars and restaurants, came after the Indonesian embassy in Manila requested the rescue of eight Indonesians who were reportedly forced to work in the online gaming hub, the Philippine Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said.
At least 162 foreign nationals “were found working in three separate scam farms within the compound,” the commission said without elaborating.
Such crimes include fraudulent love, gaming and investment schemes online that have defrauded victims of large amounts of money, Philippine officials said.
The 83 Chinese, 70 Indonesians, six Burmese nationals, two Taiwanese and a Malaysian would be flown to Manila to face an investigation by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration and possible deportation, it added.
The owner of the hotel compound was arrested and could face criminal complaints, including for harboring illegally staying foreigners, the commission and immigration officials said.
Marcos’s move to ban the Chinese-run online gambling outfits — estimated to number more than 400 across the Philippines and believed to be employing tens of thousands of Chinese and Southeast Asian nationals — was welcomed by Beijing.
It has led to the shutdown of several sprawling complexes where authorities suspect thousands of Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesians and others, mostly from Southeast Asia, have been illegally recruited and forced to work in oppressive conditions.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
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The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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