THREE Chinese nationals who were believed to be among the dozens who escaped arrest in raided POGO hubs in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga were arrested by the authorities.

The three were apprehended on Friday inside the Fontana Leisure Park in Mabalacat City in Pampanga by agents of the Bureau of Immigration, in coordination with the Clark Development Corporation.

Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission spokesperson Dr. Winston Casio said that prior to the arrest of the three, Clark authorities sought their help in going after suspected POGO operators and managers who have reportedly chosen to hide in Fontana villas.

The suspects denied allegations they served as “managers” of the raided POGO hubs-turned-scam farms in Bamban and Porac municipalities and business associates of suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo during initial questioning, with the help of an interpreter.

However, they were found to have entered the country illegally and thus will be facing deportation proceedings.

The three — two of them males and one female — are now being held at the PAOCC detention facility in Pasay City.

Casio said that as of press time, they are tracking down their main target identified as Huang Zhiang who has been tagged as a POGO “Big Boss.”

On Thursday night, agents of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) searched five villas at the Fontana Leisure Resort and Casino in Clark Freeport but failed to find their two targets who were said to be “key POGO operators.”

PNP-CIDG director Maj. Gen. Leo M. Francisco said the suspects identified as Lyu Dong alias “Bao/Boga” and Da Wei alias “David” were not found in any of the five villas they searched.

In a report to PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, the official said that his men raided their Fontana targets following a directive from the top cop to intensify their efforts against illegal activities and continuously to monitor human trafficking.

The CIDG-AOCU operation started past 10 p.m. Thursday and ended about 4 a.m., with officers failing to find the two accused despite an extensive search.

The CIDG-AOCU operatives were joined by officers from the Pampanga CIDG, the PNP Special Action Force, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the Pampanga Police Provincial Office in searching their targets on the strength of a search warrant for violation of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2002 as amended by RA 10364 issued by Judge Hermenegildo Dumlao II of the Malolos City Regional Trial Court Branch 81 in Bulacan.

Francisco said that 14 safety vaults were recovered inside Florida Villas 716 and 713. He said they will be seeking a court order to open the seized vaults.

The raiders failed to find any trafficked persons in the raided residential places although a Chinese national identified as Lim Fukun was turned over to the PAOCC for further investigation after being subjected to a medical and welfare check.

The man was described by PAOCC Executive Director Undersecretary Gilbert DC Cruz as a “person of interest” in their ongoing investigation into the possible link between the POGO hubs raided in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga.

The raid was conducted amid information that a number of Chinese nationals who escaped arrest during the March raid at the Luck South 99 Corporation compound in Porac fled to Fontana and hid in the villas.

Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Guo has been suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the raid and is in danger of being expelled from her post after being found to be a “fake Filipino.”

She and 13 others have been charged with qualified human trafficking by the CIDG and the PAOCC before the Department of Justice.