{"id":777021354,"date":"2024-12-09T08:47:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T11:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777021354"},"modified":"2026-04-22T03:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T06:27:09","slug":"illegal-gambling-in-the-philippines-59-arrested-in-davao-del-norte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/illegal-gambling-in-the-philippines-59-arrested-in-davao-del-norte","title":{"rendered":"Illegal gambling in the Philippines: 59 arrested in Davao del Norte"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A raid was conduccted in Barangay Manay, Panabo City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>The Philippines.-\u00a0The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested\u00a0<strong>55 Chinese nationals, three Malaysians and one Filipino\u00a0<\/strong>allegedly linked to offshore gaming operators in a raid in Barangay Manay, Panabo City, Davao del Norte. NBI regional director <strong>Archie Albao <\/strong>said the raid was sparked by a tip off about the kidnap of a Malaysian national named Ruby Lim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police found a warehouse had been housing <strong>an unlicensed offshore gaming operation<\/strong> for the last three months. They found 60 computers, passports, IDs, cell phones, firearms, handcuffs and baseball bats. Lim was not found. Some suspects, including the person believed to be the manager, allegedly escaped during the raid.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Phil Star, the Chinese nationals involved had relocated to Davao del Norte after a similar operation in Metro Manila was shut down. They are under investigation. Many said they were forced to work against their will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">187 deported after raids on illegal gaming operators<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) has reported that<strong>&nbsp;187 Chinese nationals&nbsp;<\/strong>have been deported following their arrests&nbsp;during a series of raids on alleged illegal offshore gaming operators in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, Bamban and Porac towns in Tarlac, and Metro Manila. The deportation was coordinated with the Chinese Embassy in Manila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PAOCC executive director undersecretary&nbsp;<strong>Gilbert Cruz&nbsp;<\/strong>told the Philippine News Agency: \u201cIf you are a foreigner, you have to present your documents and passport. When they were arrested, they were not able to present any. They are undesirable aliens. Their offence is a violation of immigration laws, so they are subject to deportation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>See also:<\/strong> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/dilg-secretary-says-47-offshore-gaming-operators-still-operating-in-the-philippines\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DILG secretary says 47 offshore gaming operators still operating in the Philippines<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A raid was conduccted in Barangay Manay, Panabo City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":25617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Philippine authorities, including the NBI and PAOCC, have conducted multiple raids against unlicensed offshore gaming operators, leading to the arrest of 59 foreign nationals and one Filipino in Panabo City, and the deportation of 187 Chinese nationals from various locations. These operations highlight ongoing efforts to combat illegal gaming, address immigration violations, and investigate potential human trafficking, with 47 illegal operators reportedly still active. The crackdown underscores the government's commitment to enforcing regulatory compliance within the iGaming sector.","focusai_entities":"National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Archie Albao, Ruby Lim, Phil Star, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), Gilbert Cruz, Philippine News Agency, Chinese Embassy in Manila, DILG","focusai_location":"Philippines, Barangay Manay, Panabo City, Davao del Norte, Metro Manila, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, Bamban, Porac, Tarlac","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Regulatory Impact","query":"What specific policy adjustments or new enforcement mechanisms are anticipated from the Philippine government to further curb illegal offshore gaming operations, and how might these affect the operational viability of legitimate POGO licensees?"},{"label":"AML & Human Trafficking","query":"Given the allegations of forced labor and the scale of these illegal operations, what enhanced AML and human trafficking prevention protocols are being implemented or considered by financial institutions and regulatory bodies to detect and disrupt associated illicit financial flows?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[20326],"class_list":["post-777021354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-illegal-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777021354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777021354"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777021354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777021376,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777021354\/revisions\/777021376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777021354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777021354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777021354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}