The Philippine police uncovered an online gaming center run by Chinese in Manila and arrested more than 450 people. The group was actually an online fraud center, and 137 of the arrested people were Chinese.
Gilberto Cruz, chairman of the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission, said on Friday (February 21 ) that preliminary investigations showed that the online gambling center was actually used for online fraud, sports betting and investment fraud against Chinese and Indian people.
Cruz revealed that a total of five Chinese executives were arrested and they may face charges of human trafficking. The online gambling industry in the Philippines has long been accused of being used to cover up gangs and engage in illegal activities such as human trafficking, money laundering, online fraud, kidnapping, and even murder. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a complete ban on the operation of online gambling companies last year.
However, Cruz said that the crackdown on another online gambling group this week showed that people in the industry ignored the ban and still tried to engage in fraudulent activities . Cruz previously said that since the ban was issued, about 21,000 Chinese in the country have continued to operate small-scale online fraud centers . Similar fraud centers have appeared in several Asian countries in recent years, usually by abducted victims of human smuggling who are forced to promote cryptocurrency investment scams or engage in illegal activities such as love scams.
The Philippines will hold midterm elections in May . In recent campaign activities, Marcos has repeatedly highlighted the rampant online gambling groups, accusing former President Rodrigo Duterte of allowing these groups to grow during his tenure, which is evidence of being overly pro-China . Philippine authorities have busted online gambling companies several times this year. In one operation in January, 400 foreigners were arrested , including several Chinese.
China, Thailand and Myanmar cooperate to combat online fraud park
Meanwhile, 200 Chinese people rescued from a cyber fraud park in Myawaddy, Myanmar , were taken to Thailand on Thursday and then flown back home.
Reuters reported that early Thursday morning, the first group of 50 Chinese , escorted by armed soldiers and military vehicles equipped with machine guns, crossed the border from Myawaddy into the Thai border city of Mae Sot. Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said that 600 Chinese people rescued from Myanmar's cyber fraud park will return home this week . He said that cooperation among China, Thailand and Myanmar is the key to the rescue operation, and officials from the three countries will hold talks on this issue next week. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Thursday that the Beijing authorities are " actively carrying out bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Thailand, Myanmar and other countries ... jointly blocking criminals from roaming around in relevant countries and jointly eradicating the cancer of online gambling and fraud . "
Since the Chinese actor Wang Xing was rescued from the Myawaddy fraud farm, Thailand, with the support of the Beijing authorities, has stepped up its crackdown on fraud farms on the Thai-Myanmar border . Wang Xing was lured to Thailand by someone who promised him a filming job in early January , and was subsequently taken to a fraudulent network park in Myanmar. His disappearance attracted widespread attention on social media, prompting the Chinese embassy and consulate in Thailand and the Thai police to intervene in the investigation. Wang Xing was subsequently rescued and returned to China.
The Wang Xing incident also sparked a rare grassroots movement in China, collecting nearly 1,800 names of Chinese people who were allegedly forced to go to Myanmar. more than 1,500 people have been arrested in the Myawaddy area , including 250 people arrested on Wednesday . Last week, a total of 260 people were rescued from Myawaddy and are currently staying in a Thai military camp. Many of them had cuts or bruises. They said they were beaten and electrocuted in the cyber fraud park. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Wednesday that there are still about 7,000 people rescued from Myanmar 's cyber fraud park waiting to be sent to Thailand. May 2024 report by the United States Institute of Peace, a Washington think tank , pointed out that online fraud targets millions of victims around the world and generates $ 64 billion in illegal income each year.