601 Chinese arrested for cybercrimes in the Philippines in less than a week
- Manila has launched a crackdown on the large numbers of Chinese who mostly enter the country as tourists and then work for online gambling and cybercrime operations
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the arrests on Monday took place in Puerto Princesa city in Palawan province, “where they were caught in the act of doing their illegal activities”.
Morente said on Tuesday that they would be deported for violating the conditions of their stay in the Philippines and working without authorisation.
Initial reports indicate that most of these aliens are overstaying and undocumented
“Initial reports indicate that most of these aliens are overstaying and undocumented,” Morente said in a statement.
The raiding teams seized hundreds of laptops and cellphones from the Chinese, many of whom failed to show passports or other travel documents, immigration officials said.
Immigration intelligence official Fortunato Manahan Jnr said the raids were an offshoot of complaints from local officials over the presence of many illegal Chinese workers in Puerto Princesa. Authorities conducted weeks of surveillance before Monday’s raids.
China turns the tables on Philippines’ offshore gambling habit
Philippine defence officials recently expressed concern over the presence of large numbers of Chinese near local military camps.
Morente said there would be no letup in the immigration bureau’s campaign against the illegal foreign workers “who use the Philippines as a venue for illegal activities, particularly unauthorised online gaming activities, cyber fraud and investment scams that prey on unsuspecting victims who are mostly abroad.”
The arrests last Wednesday in the Ortigas financial district in Pasig city in the Manila metropolis came after the Chinese embassy provided information about the fraud, Morente said.
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Last month, the Chinese embassy said many Chinese have been illegally recruited to work in the gambling industry in the Philippines, often without work permits. The online gambling operations cater mostly to people in China.
The embassy said Chinese money was flowing illegally into the Philippines involving crimes such as money laundering and that many Chinese recruited to work in the online gambling operations were confined, physically abused and had their passports taken.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation has stopped issuing licences to offshore gambling operations while contracts and security and legal issues are reviewed.
The gambling regulator said the Philippine government collected nearly 12 billion pesos (US$230 million) in revenues from the operations from 2016 to last year.
