324 Chinese arrested for cybercrimes in Palawan
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 10:29:11 +0000
JOINT elements of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have arrested 324 Chinese for engaging in cybercrimes and other forms of illegal activities following an operation in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said on Wednesday that the operations were conducted on Monday by operatives from the BI Intelligence Division who were backed by elements from the military, including the Western Command of the AFP.
The raiding teams, led by BI Intelligence Officers Jude Hinolan and Charlie Bautista, seized hundreds of laptops, cellular phones and gadgets during the operations.
Hinolan said the aliens were rounded up in eight hotels and establishments where they were caught in the act of doing their illegal activities.
“Many of them were not able to show their passports or any travel documents,” Hinolan said.
The operations were conducted as an offshoot of reports and complaints from local officials in Puerto Princesa on the presence of many illegal Chinese workers in the city.
Last Friday, BI operatives, with the help of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS), also arrested 277 Chinese workers in a raid at a corporate center in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, which is used as a hub for illegal online gambling operations.
A total of 601 undocumented Chinese were arrested during the last two separate operations alone, considered the biggest combined haul this year. WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL