The Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) recently announced that the next wave of crackdowns on illegal offshore gaming operations (POGO) will focus on high-risk residential areas "disguised as private homes." Intelligence indicates that many illegal groups have quietly changed their operational strategies, shifting from centralized offices to dispersed hiding, concealed in upscale communities and gated apartments in major cities.
PAOCC Executive Director Gilbert Cruz pointed out that several groups now choose to conduct activities within high-end residential areas in Manila and surrounding cities. These areas are quiet and have lax security, making it difficult for outsiders to detect, becoming new hotbeds for crimes such as telecommunications fraud, gambling, and illegal detention. "They no longer use office buildings or storage facilities but have 'residentialized' their criminal networks, operating covertly in seemingly normal locations," he said.
To comprehensively combat this hidden mode, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has issued a notice instructing local governments to inspect suspicious residences within their jurisdictions, focusing on units with frequent tenant changes, frequent visitor traffic, or unusual structural modifications.
A security officer involved in intelligence integration revealed that some so-called "family apartments" actually have gambling operation systems or detention spaces, with some units even arranging personnel to be on duty around the clock, specifically to deal with sudden inspections. "From the outside, it looks like a normal apartment, but inside there is a whole set of telecommunications fraud operations," the officer said.
This round of inspections will be led by PAOCC, in collaboration with the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Bureau of Immigration, the Cybercrime Investigation Department, and other law enforcement agencies. Targeted strikes and large-scale searches are expected to commence in the coming weeks, with some actions possibly taking place during late-night raids to ensure effectiveness.
It is reported that law enforcement units currently have a list of detailed addresses and targets, with some high-risk neighborhoods already prioritized for cleanup. PAOCC emphasizes that this operation is not a one-time cleanup but a more targeted and sustained "normalization of clearing" effort.
Cruz stated that to thoroughly eradicate the illegal POGO network, the government will not only strengthen law enforcement but also promote stricter legislative regulation to prevent criminal groups from "changing shells and continuing to survive." He emphasized: "We will never allow these criminals to continue spreading in the gaps of Philippine society. With no safe corners, they will have nowhere to escape."
