CIDG tracks down 2 Chinese human traffickers
THE Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group yesterday said they are tracking down two Chinese nationals believed to be key operators of the raided illegal POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac.
On Thursday night, the suspects identified as Lyu Dong alias “Bao/Boga” and Da Wei alias “David” were not found in five villas at the Fontana Leusire Resort and Casino in Clark Freeport in Mabalacat City in Pampanga, which was raided by CIDG Anti-Organized Crime Unit agents.
The suspects are facing charges for human trafficking, PNP-CIDG director Maj. Gen. Leo M. Francisco said.
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. the next morning, 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 Alice 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.
