Philippines arrests 244 suspects in online scam crackdown | Human Trafficking News | Al Jazeera

Philippine authorities arrested over 200 foreign workers, mostly Chinese, during their largest crackdown this year on illegal offshore gaming operators in Mindanao. Raids on two locations resulted in the arrest of 110 Chinese, two Cambodians, and a Hong Kong resident in the first, and 131 foreigners in the second, mainly Chinese, along with citizens from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar. Authorities seized large quantities of computer equipment, mobile phones, laptops, and SIM cards. The Philippines banned POGOs in 2024, citing their use by criminal gangs for human trafficking, money laundering, kidnappings, fraud, and murder.