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Police find computer sets, smartphones, and multiple routers at the resort, and suspect those have been used in scamming operations
CEBU, Philippines – Police in the town of Moalboal, Cebu arrested at least 38 undocumented foreign nationals who were seen operating a suspected scamming hub at a resort on Thursday, October 10.
Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) inspected the Happy Bear Villa on Wednesday, October 9, and found foreign nationals staying there. Police immediately went to the resort after receiving the report from the BFP.
“During the inspection, actually, we were shocked to see undocumented foreigners in the area,” Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, told reporters in a mix of English and Cebuano on Thursday.
Pelare said that police have been working with local governments in conducting routine inspections in multiple areas in the region to combat the operations of illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
On September 20, Moalboal Mayor Inocentes Cabaron issued an executive order, directing barangay officials to monitor and report suspicious activities with similarities to illegal POGO operations in their respective areas.
In August, 169 foreign nationals were caught running at least three scam farms inside the Tourist Garden Hotel in Barangay Agus, Lapu-Lapu City.
“We found computers, cellphone gadgets, routers and that is one of the indicators [of a POGO] but it is still subject for verification,” Moalboal Police Captain Brigido Paca told Rappler on Thursday afternoon.
Paca said that before the BFP did their inspection, they received a tip from a telecommunications company that said there was a resort in Barangay Saavedra that requested an installment for a high-speed internet connection. Police have identified this as a probable indicator of an illegal POGO.
This resort was later identified as Happy Bear Villa.
The Moalboal police captain said that they have coordinated with the offices of the Bureau of Immigration, Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, and other concerned law enforcement agencies to deepen their probe into the resort and the undocumented foreigners.
As of writing, the 38 foreign nationals are detained at the resort, and police are still investigating the issue. – Rappler.com
