THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has deported 35 Indonesian nationals arrested during a raid in an alleged illegal Pogo hub in Cebu province.
In a statement, the BI said the deported foreign nationals, which includes nine females and 26 males, departed from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on October 22.
The 35 Indonesians have been included in the BI’s blacklist as a result of their deportation.
The deportees were among the over 100 foreign nationals arrested during a raid carried out in an alleged online gambling and scamming operations hub in Lapu-Lapu City on August 31.
The operation was conducted by the BI in coordination with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime, and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.
"The arrest and subsequent deportation of these foreign nationals send a strong message that illegal online gambling operations will not be tolerated," BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said.
"We remain committed to upholding the President’s directive to ban such activities, and we will continue to work closely with other government agencies to ensure that those involved in illegal operations are brought to justice,” he added.
He also warned other foreigners engaging in illegal work without proper documentation.
“You will face the full force of the law. Our operations will be relentless,” he said.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. earlier ordered the total ban of Pogo operations in the country in light of the raid conducted on two properties in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga, which uncovered its involvement in illegal activities such as human trafficking, hacking, scamming, surveillance of government websites and even murder. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)