The Philippine National Police (PNP) recently launched a large-scale armed raid in the Valenzuela district of Makati City, capturing two Chinese nationals. The police said that the two were suspected former behind-the-scenes bosses of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), who have been engaged in illegal gambling in the Philippines for a long time and have maintained close contacts with multiple suspicious gangs.
This operation was carried out based on weeks of intelligence gathering and secret tracking. On the day, several fully armed special police surrounded the suspects' residence, quickly broke through the door, and controlled the scene. Multiple rifles, submachine guns, a large number of magazines, and bullets were found in the house, some of the weapons were modified, and their lethality was extremely high. The police pointed out that such firepower is rare in POGO-related cases, indicating that their criminal network may be highly organized and violent.
Preliminary investigations show that the two are suspected of long-term manipulation of illegal POGO platforms, involving money laundering and illegal fund transfers, possibly connected to a larger transnational criminal network, not only active in the Philippines but also financially and personnel-wise linked with illegal gambling and fraud gangs in multiple Southeast Asian countries.
Currently, the two are detained and under trial for illegal possession of firearms and violation of immigration laws, while the police are investigating the source of the weapons, the flow of funds, and the list of accomplices. Once gambling involvement is confirmed, they will face deportation and permanent inclusion on the Philippines' immigration blacklist. This case once again highlights the security risks hidden in the POGO industry and has sparked external concerns about its relationship with organized crime.
