PNP steps up nationwide crackdown on illegal POGO operations

By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan, Philippine News Agency

Acting Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez (Philippine National Police/facebook)

MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) is intensifying its campaign against illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and internet gaming licensees (IGLs) following the discovery of an alleged illegal online gaming hub posing as an information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) company in Taguig City last Dec. 1.

Elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Southern Metro Manila District Field Unit and the Southern Police District (SPD), in coordination with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), were conducting a manhunt operation for a Chinese national wanted for estafa when they discovered the alleged illicit POGO/IGL hub in an establishment in Upper McKinley Hills.

In a statement Monday, PNP acting chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. commended the CIDG Southern Metro Manila District Field Unit and the SPD for the discovery, emphasizing that such operations highlight attempts by syndicates to continue illegal gaming activities despite the national ban.

He said the PNP has launched intensified intelligence-driven operations against POGOs since President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued an executive order banning them in the country.

“The instruction to us is clear: Identify, validate and shut down all the remaining POGOs, particularly those that hide behind the names of BPOs or IT solution companies. We have been complying and we will continue to do so until all of them are gone,” he said.

Nartatez said the PNP is coordinating with the Bureau of Immigration, National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Foreign Affairs to intensify monitoring of the emerging trend involving foreign nationals attempting to revive underground gaming hubs.

He added authorities are not discounting the possibility that some of these operators are tied to larger cross-border criminal networks.

“Sa ngayon, may strong indicators na ang ilang illegal POGO/IGL operators ay konektado sa mas malalaking transnational cybercrime groups. Hindi lang po ito simpleng illegal gambling, may posibilidad na may kasamang online fraud, money laundering, identity theft, at iba pang cyber-enabled crimes (Currently, there are strong indicators that some illegal POGO/IGL operators are connected to larger transnational cybercrime groups. This is not just simple illegal gambling, there is a possibility that it involves online fraud, money laundering, identity theft, and other cyber-enabled crimes.),” he said.

The PNP and CIDG, he said, are currently coordinating with foreign counterparts to strengthen case build-up.

“If there are still individuals or groups planning to run POGO-like operations, they should stop because we will find you, we will shut you down, and we will file the strongest possible charges,” Nartatez said.