The Department of Justice has revealed that the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub, which was raided by authorities in Las Piñas City last month, was also used as a venue for various cybercrime activities, including pornography.
In a statement, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty stated that the information is based on the preliminary findings of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
The official mentioned that the intelligence report was provided to them directly by the said agency.
He stated that there were activities unrelated to gambling and instead, most of them were related to cybercrime.
Usec. Ty clarified that they have only received preliminary findings reports, and among the activities observed in the raided POGO hub were pornography and the possibility of online scamming.
Recalling the incident, over two thousand Filipino and foreign nationals were rescued by authorities during the operation at Xinchuang Network Technology Inc on June 27.
This operation also led to the arrest of five Chinese nationals on alleged charges of human trafficking.
Initially, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla ordered the release of the arrested Chinese nationals due to insufficient evidence from the Philippine National Police.
However, the PNP leadership denied this and insisted that the operation was well-coordinated with the concerned agencies prior to the issuance of the Warrant of Arrest.
